Business is Marketing

‘When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise.’ Though some marketers were not swayed by the logic then, they have now realised that the fastest way to set things right is with a powerful dose of a great advertisement An interesting billboard went up in Manhattan in New York a few days back. The advertisement showed Oracle President Charles Phillips posing with a lady named YaVaughnie Wilkins with a quote below the picture that read, “You are my soul mate forever.” The only problem was, Charles was the only person who knew not that he would be featuring in this ad; for it was Ms. Wilkins – with whom he had had an eight-year long affair – who had decided to make things public after he dumped her! She even put a website address on the billboard: charlesphillipsandyavaughniewilkins.com where, if you wanted, you could check out the couple’s snaps, letters and cards sent to each other! Be it an interesting advertisement, adultery or advertisement of adul...

A good product or even a good advertising strategy alone cannot successfully sell a brand. In today’s cutthroat competition, strategic public relations holds the answer! Amystery cream was pitted against some well known branded antiaging creams for seven days in a “blind product-trial” campaign in China. One hundred and fifty beauty bloggers in Shanghai participated in this “blind-trial”. The results showed an overwhelming 9 out of 10 women (bloggers) said they would recommend this mystery cream to a friend and a same number said it was better than the well-known, prestige brands that they had used in the past. The surprise result created a tremendous buzz online. After seven days the name of the mystery cream was revealed – Unilever’s Pond’s Age Miracle. When David Beckham travelled to Australia to play for LA Galaxy FC the world leading style icon was seen using the V8 Lux, the new mobile phone that Motorola was planning to launch in Australia. The world saw Beckham using the phone, ...

IN THE PRESENT SCENARIO IT’S NOT THE FITTEST THAT SURVIVE. INSTEAD THAT GLORY IS RESERVED FOR THE “ADAPTABLE”. IF YOU ADAPT, YOU CAN ‘FIT’ IN ANY ENVIRONMENT & SURVIVE “GO ON BE A TIGER” proclaimed the tagline of Accenture - said to be the largest consulting firm in the world with more than 1,86,000 employees and branches in 52 countries, with 96 of the Fortune Global 100 companies as its clients. The advertising campaign was seen as a perfect fit between the celebrity (Woods) and the client (Accenture). Tiger Woods was known world over for his strength, mastery, discipline and relentless focus on winning – much similar to Accenture and its business performance. This was 2003. Last month the tagline took on a whole new meaning when the world came to know about Tiger Woods’ frolic with porn stars. On the night of 13th December 2009, Accenture become the first company to drop Tiger Woods from its multi million dollar endorsement deal. For a company that for years had built its whole...

KNOWLEDGE ABOUT CULTURAL NUANCES AND ETIQUETTES GOES A LONG WAY IN ENSURING THE SUCCESS OF YOUR BUSINESS ON FOREIGN SHORES AND IN AVOIDING SURE-SHOT FAILURE. Women don’t wear pants in Japan! Now before your imagination runs riot, let me tell you this is one of the guidelines prescribed to many female business travellers to Japan. As per Google, “Japanese business etiquette” is one of the most searched for Japan business related keywords. According to these guidelines, Japanese men do not relate easily to women with authority in business and that can cause problems while doing business. The Japanese culture encourages women to wear long skirt suits to work. Most Japanese companies prefer that their female employees not wear high-heeled shoes as Japanese men are not very tall, and towering over them might offend some. While “Going Dutch” is a culture common to Netherlands and accepted in many other cultures, the Turks don’t believe in “Going Dutch” at all, and a suggestion to that effect...

FINDING THE RIGHT SUCCESSOR TO PASS-ON THE CEO’S BATON IS ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL STRATEGIC DECISIONS THAT A COMPANY SHOULD TAKE... MUCH BEFORE THE CEO IS ACTUALLY READY TO ‘PASS IT ON’. He’s finally back in business (thank God for that!). Fortune magazine has named him ‘CEO of the Decade’ this month. He is the perfect choice and there can be no one better, for this man has single handedly redefined mobile communication (with the iPhone), made the geeky PC hip-n-happening (with the Mac- Book) and brought back Apple from the brink. Steve Jobs is a man whose products inspire a religious devotion in users – and he is worshipped by many around the world. But this is where the problem lies. Early this year when Steve Jobs took a leave of absence from his company to get a liver transplant, Apple’s stock slid to an all time low. It’s said that when Jobs sneezes, Apple catches a cold. If a company is all about a great personality and a not a great product there’s going to be a big problem of ...

THE ONE WHO CAN PUT HIS FOOT OUT OF THE DOOR, IS THE ONE MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED. EVEN IN TODAY’S WIRED WORLD, DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE PERSONAL TOUCH. SO GO ON, AN. NOUNCE YOUR PRESENCE... This is the story of a simple woman, a story of an Indian girl, born into a conservative family in Chennai, who went to the US to pursue higher studies and who while studying also worked as a receptionist from midnight to sunrise to earn money. Finally, after a lot of hardships she passed out from Yale University and got her first call for a job interview. She struggled hard and somehow managed to scrape together $50 to buy herself a western suit. Not having much idea about western wear, she landed up for the interview wearing a trouser that barely reached her ankles. She was rejected. Dejected and disheartened she turned to her professor at Yale for help, support and advice, and she got the simplest, yet best possible advice – “Be Yourself”. She wore a sari for her next interview and got...

‘One’ is not just the lowest single digit numerical value; neither is it just a show of miniscule strength. Instead, the digit has the wherewithal to change national destinies, unflinchingly challenge mighty emperors and irrevocably alter your life condition! It is just another day, yet today, this one date has begun to signify something of great importance to all of us. Its impact has been felt all over the world. Yes, 9/11 or September 11 today symbolises terrorism. One incident on this day shook up the entire world. Overnight Kabul and Kandahar became the most talked and written about places. The world became more knowledgeable about bombs and forget about our way of thinking, even our manner of speaking changed. ‘Ground Zero’, the original meaning of which was the epicenter of a nuclear explosion, now meant something else entirely. ‘Terrorism’ was no more an activity that happened in far away places for Americans, but something that took lives in their own home. One event and look ...