Friday, September 29, 2006

Co-Branding, Viral Marketing and Brand Associations

Swashbuckling, living life on the edge, drunk, adventurous, lawless renegade – Given this choices would anybody guess I am talking about the Disney or even Volvo for that matter. First thing that comes to my mind would be when I think Volvo has to be ‘Safety’. Volvo has spent years and years to build the philosophy of Safety. No brand of car has been able to dislodge ‘safety’ from consumer’s mindshare. Same is the case with Disney – it’s about fun, family and whole hearted entertainment.

Now past summer Disney and Volvo have done the unpredictable by creating this viral marketing campaign. Volvo has created a treasure hunt where an SUV was buried and a treasure map published to pull out the hidden treasure (an SUV). Disney has similarly created a theme ride based on Pirates of Carribean. Both of the campaigns have been hugely successful, considering they actually contradict what the brand stands for. I guess the only explanation I can think of is ‘FAD’. Pepsi has launched a new site bluebillion.com with an idea to unite the fans across world and ride on similar fad.

Movies have always been preferred avenues to advertise products, be part of fad especially if it’s an expected block buster. Recently World Space used this medium to good affect by being part of the movie Lage Raho Munnabhai. World Space must have hit the jackpot in reaching its target audience*. A limited dosage or sublimal messages can do wonders to brands when advertised within movies.

Although the cues seem to be quite contrasting from the core values of the brand. It does turn out to be a good campaign for the product (read increased sales). Associations like this just remain intact during the phase of the fad and whither down as time goes. If the brand does well and pushes the sales during this phase why not ride the wave?

*A small glitch however was that most of the target audience in Lage Raho including Munnabhai are hooked to a Radio Transceiver whose receiver might very well miss out the waves bouncing off the satellites.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

KARNATAKA’S DREAM RUN

Many Worlds, One Bangalore


Reads the two page Advertisement in Wall Street Journal this last Wednesday. As one could have expected the majority of the space is used to showcase IT and BT exports. Also the ad tries to focus on areas like Tourism, Textile and other Smaller Industries.

It’s refreshing to see that a coalition government involved in its own petty politics and mud slinging still managed time for a forward looking initiative. The Advertisement talks about Bangalore being the IT hub with $8 billion software exports for 2005-06 accounting for 38% of software exports in the country. Ad also tries to gain some mileage for Bangalore being the global headquarter of Infosys, and NRN leading the State’s IT vision group.

The section on tourism I think was pretty neat, the initiative to group 116 tourist destination into 11 circuits based on varied themes was innovative. So instead of tourists picking random places they can pick a theme based on tour. Themes include ‘Songs in Stone’ – Hampi, Aihole and Pattadakal. ‘Leisure City’ – Bangalore with emphasis on parks …. Poooh…. I would rather focus on the Pubs and Eat-Outs in Bangalore than parks for relaxation and winding.

One initiative that has been quite acclaimed and been seemingly profitable is the ‘Stay at Home’ initiative – The concept was introduced during Dasara, where tourists get to stay in Homes, just like you staying in a relatives or friends place. It is an enriching experience for a foreigner to visit kodagu (coorg) and be part of a wedding, food and booze. This initiative has a catchy phrase too. ‘The feel of a five star in Paris and London is the same; but a home stay in Kodugu village is unique’. I quite agree with this and full marks for Karnataka Tourism to have envisaged the concept.

Final Words: Although the initiative itself is laudable, the focus some how still remains on Bangalore which already is bludgeoned and cant take any more. There is no point mentioning Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli as alternate venues for investment - if there ain’t any infrastructure to back this. Infrastructure in Bangalore and rest of the state is all but pathetic. The completion of International Airport and good roads, better Traffic management would be pivotal for growth in the State. Creating pull alone is enough – you need to have the right environment for those investments to keep invested.

Ps: Oh did I mention Kummaranna and Yediyurappa were spotted in the centre spread..!!

Friday, September 22, 2006

Take a power nap

Here is something which I strongly believe and for once have research backing.

According to the New Scientist, a research carried out by boffins from the City University of New York in the US has found that napping boosts memory, making it easier to recall important facts, reports the Daily Mail.
The study lead by Dr Matthew Tucker, said that though 'power napping' was thought to be "counterproductive in environments requiring mental acuity and substantial memory capacity", the results had shown otherwise.

A 20 min nap in the afternoon would definitely help getting back to work, especially after a hectic first half. Usually the later half tends to be boring and I would prefer to attend meetings or do things which are trivial. I believe the Japanese have a scheduled break for an hour every afternoon. But again I don’t work 12 hours a day, i dont need a bunker to sleep nevertheless could use those 40 winks in my cubicle.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

End of an Era

With the win in Monza, Schumi has confirmed his retirement from the world of Motor Sports. So does an end come to one of the most successful runs in Formula 1. For records schumi has won the drivers title 7 times. He has an outstanding record of 90 wins, 153 podium finishes to his credit. Such has been his dominance that there aren’t many records which are not under his name.

Its hard to predict how motor sport will shape after his exit. As some one quoted, “what will happen to Tour De France once Lance Quits? – Ans: It will be a race again”. Formula 1 will probably be more competitive again or I might turn out to be totally one sided affairs dominated by an Alonso or Kimi or Kubica ?

I have always sided with the under dogs, and its no secret that I no great fan of Schumi either. For some reason I have always sided the under dogs. For I believe it’s the under dogs who make the sports likeable. They are the ones who bring the element of unpredictability which is makes sports affable. I like the likes of Safin or Nadal who on their day can wave the sternest of challenges with ease . Sport would become boring if one person were to reign supreme, Fedrerer, Sampras, Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong all great champions, no technical flaws and they have almost achieved perfection. But what good is it to watch a match where you know the result before you switch on the TV.

It would be perhaps the first time in 6 years since I started following F1, I would want Schumi to win the Drivers. I think with only 2 points separating him and Alonso, there is a greater chance that Schumi will pull it off. I have the faintest of doubts that Schumi will put his heart and soul to end on his career on a successful note.


All I can say that the year 2006 has been the year of retirements. Zidane, Agassi, Navratilova, Davenport and now Schumi. None of greats till now have been able to exit on a victorious note. I am hoping Schumi could break this jinx and retire with the driver title. That should be the most befitting present to a great champion.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Of Taxes & Dating

I received a mail from city of silverton (my humble abode). The letter read something like this…

Our records find that you have been in City of Silverton since Oct 2005, and you have not filed your city taxes. Failure to pay the returns by mm/dd/yyyy will attract penalties. Taxes are set at 1.25% of you annual income. Please reach us ASAP at this address”.

I found this letter particularly annoying considering I had already paid Cincinnati taxes (2% of my annual income). I always thought Silverton is a municipal within Cincinnati, why this taxes within taxes?
Secondly, Silverton is levying taxes for living in the neighborhood, I can concur with them if there were a fixed slab say $30 per month towards garbage collection, road maintenance, fire and other civic amenities including managing parks etc (most of which I don’t use). The question lingers..why a person’s salary should determine the taxes - specially when you are being taxed for a service ? Can somebody explain the differential in taxes to avail same service? Cost of service I always believed was determined by the market and not by what the user is willing to pay? Do we pay different rates for services like hair cuts…I don’t think we do ?

I had only moved Nov 2005 and not Oct 2005, so armed with my lease agreement I went to the office assuming I will end up paying for two months which would roughly be around 60 bucks (tops). The lady at the counter calculated my tax to 300 bucks. Stunned I said ma’am there must have been a mistake I was here in silverton since october and I guess my taxes would be in the range of 60-70 bucks. She gave a detailed calculation.
Taxes for 2005 @ 1.25% $60
Late fee $50 (late by a month, pls note my taxes are close to penalty)
Pro-rated tax for 2006 $230
A grand total of $340
Evidently the $230 is for next year (2006) and the lady had calculated the pro-rata on a half-yearly salary (based on W2 form). Not ready for this jutka I politely asked ma’am can I pay the taxes for 2006 next year? The lady who was very polite till then was even more polite in responding…’sire you have to pay your taxes in advance, that’s the rule’.
Me being smart (that I am) asked her.. ‘but what if my annual earning are higher than last year?’ The lady was even polite in answering … ‘your estimate can be off by 10%, so your prediction should be accurate otherwise you’ll be penalized’. By then I had noticed that the lady’s vocabulary revolved primarily around penalties, arrest, warrant, violation. However polite she sounded she always communicated this message clear and crystal - ’boss pay your taxes or end up in jail’.

By this time I had a big frown in my face, I asked her is there anything that you don’t tax? So far I have paid Social Security taxes, State Tax, Federal Tax…service tax and a host of other taxes which even our Finance Minister wouldn’t have thought about. The lady across the counter was spontaneous in responding – There are very few things that aren’t taxed … eg. Essentials (which classify as food), water and air fall under this category.

Voila… only three things? Two of them are already make it to endangered species list prepared by Mr. Inconvenient Truth. At the pace this man is going within 10 years water and air would be taxed. I guarantee you that…
Mr.Gore has problems comprehending simple facts. I think his arguments on glacial melt down in Greenland, Patagonia are not justified. Give me a break, you can’t show me black and white pictures taken 25 years back, and prove a climate catastrophe? Can’t you understand glaciers look different when seen black and white?

Sorry for divulging, but the lady at the counter sensing that I was withholding something asked me what would your salary be? Pls declare it upfront. So I said fine, here is my salary – she calculated the net tax which came to double what she had calculated before I was being smart. I am so so…frustrated….someone rightly said…’I could live without two things…Taxes & Meeting’. Having no other-go ..i shelved the dollars…owing to return back to home at least to save taxes.

Now the polite lady at the counter had some advice for me…when you get into a neighborhood young man you have to talk to people about the ‘TO-DO’ things. I said …. Ma’am I come from a third world country where we only evade taxes and to top it I don’t know anyone here. The moment I told this the lady was curious to know my where abouts, what I do (socially)?. I guess it’s written all over my face that I survive weekends on a heavy dosage of rented movies from Blockbuster. Sensing the imminent question I said….well I prefer to stay home. The lady was now amused … till now I had heard ‘all about taxing’ now…the topic turns to ..’all about dating’. After imparting some tips on dating, I have been given an assignment. Not only do I have to pay taxes, but I have to have some solid story to tell her coming october!!
If paying taxes weren’t hard enough I now have an assignment to go with it..too….
High time I change neighborhood.