Inspiration, dedication and the power of a brand

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Inspiration, dedication and the power of a brand

Life has many lessons to teach  and often these lessons arrive through unexpected sources. Recently, I received a lesson in hard work, dedication and the power of a brand through the most unexpected individual.

This individual was not a high ranking brand manager, he wasn’t even a well educated soul. The lesson was delivered through Kallu.

Kallu is a young boy who has a bun masks stall near my office. He wasn’t fortunate like some if us. He didn’t have parents who loved him and were well off enough to provide him with all he desired. Kallu started working when he was just 12 years old. His job was to attract customers. He had to charm the Didi’s to come visit his uncle’s lassi and masala chaas stall as the small tapir was hidden in a corner. He used to go all out convince them to come drink a cold beverage but despite his efforts and success he still listened to his uncle’s yelling that he was useless and a waste of money. He wasn’t allowed breaks and wasn’t allowed to play.

After three years of dealing with his uncle, he managed to find a job at a hotel. He had to clean up tables and wash dishes. This job was slightly better than the previous but it wasn’t perfect. His coworkers were hostile as he earned larger tips through a combination of a sweet smile, polite behavior and an helpful attitude. The hotel owner like his uncle liked to yell. A broken dish brought on shouts claiming he was useless and a wastage of money. Despite the hostile atmosphere he continued to work until the day he got beaten up by the owner of the hotel over a misunderstanding.

Kallu decided he didn’t want to work for anyone anymore. He and three of his friends decided to start a stalll of their own using the money they had earned in the past five years.

This decision started a new phase in his life.

Kallu no longer had to deal with abusive behavior but he had to give hafta to the policemen for allowing him to put his table in the footpath and keep his furniture – a table and stools safe. He also had to buy everyday raw material and packaging material for making bun masks.

Kallu taught his friends the lessons he had learnt from his past two jobs. He taught the manners he learnt in his hotel job and customer attraction tactics that he learnt from his uncle. Using these tricks, they found a visible location for the stall. They paid a few extra bucks for the location but they refused to make the same mistake as his uncle. People visited their stall because they recognized them. They were also quick to service as Kallu knew that delays caused customers to leave.

The first point he learnt was to be in a place where you are visible it’s only then that people would recognise you and come to you, this he learnt from the mistake made by his uncle. Even if calls for a few buck extra it was worth it. And he would be quick in response which he learnt from his hotel job, where he would see many customers go because of delay.

According to me Kallu is an excellent marketer who knows the basic rules of the game – customer acquisition and customer retention. The pillars of marketing.

Today, these four friends work in shifts, turn by turn. They also plan to expand. They also joined a chain of dabbawalas part time where they are learning the secret of time management.

Meeting Kallu has changed a lot of my own perceptions about life. I learnt that you cannot carry on the same attitude through out life. You have to adapt as you learn. So make sure to observe, adapt and inculcate the lesson life offers.

To me Kallu is a good marketer and someday when I train management grads, I would invite him to share his knowledge on all his learnings. As they say sitting in an AC room working on PowerPoint and excel is notas educational as real life experienc.

Kallu Ki tapir is now the landmark for hundreds and thousands who visit that area.

This is the Power of Brand

The Cricket Fever

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“Ma’am I am feeling extremely low today. I wish I could travel back in time. I was so excited about the match yesterday,” said Amit, my colleague.

 

Amits’ enthusiasm for cricket is crazy. On his only day off, he travels all the way from Navi Mumbai to Malad to play cricket all day. The next day, he was always arrives at work on time without any sign of tiredness.

 

Today, he is disheartened and tried. He is disheartened by India’s defeat. It is such a different look for this normally fervent man.

 

Amit represents the teaming of fans that live for cricket. They not only know the sport not only by the rules but by the cricketers’ history and their family background. To them cricket is a religion – they eat cricket, they play cricket, they pray cricket, they talk cricket and they even walk cricket.

 

I noticed this love for cricket developing amongst boys during childhood. My chotu brother had just reached the 4^th standard, when he started walking and talking cricket. He made me laugh as he constantly bowled or batted as we walked. It was odd but I realized that most boys his aged acted that way as their love for the game of cricket grew.

The craze for cricket not only affects the young. It also keeps India young. During matches, a common and fun sight was my 75 year old my grandfather advocating cricket. My friend’s home was even more entertaining. My friend’s enthusiast mother used to prepare menu based on the cricket match. The menu ranged from South Africa-India bhindi masala to Pakistan-New Zealand cricket tadka dal. The family is so cricket obsessed that even their maid is given a day off from work to join them watch the cricket match on TV.

 

Let not forget, cricket and work. Most offices with television sets are set to watch the live telecast. We sneak away from work to watch the match. We get so involved in the match that it often seems as if we are playing the game and not those two teams. It makes the victory or defeat personal.

An emotional connection exists between game and all fans which is far far beyond the religion we follow or language we speak.

 

We bleed blue, we breath blue, we support blue because we believe in blue.

 

We might have lost in the semi finals this time but this is not the end of the world. Team India performed well and we are proud of them. The regrettable remarks made by some disappointed fans, about the personal lives of cricketers, do not truly show the true spirit of the hard core cricket lovers. It does not show the right spirit towards the game. Cricket is a game and we have to enjoy the spirit of it.

 

May the best team win and I am sure next time it will be India!

 

 

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The Branding Logic

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Last 40 years has seen a fight between the human mind and the men who create Brands.

There are many products and many Brands. Human brains waste time guessing which brand is the best and why is it the best. While the Brand Gods spend their time thinking how to make a space for their brand within the human mind. They also ponder on how to prevent the minds from forgeting about the brand when its time to take out the wallet and purchase. 

  L 

Branding
Branding is a science just like cooking, playing or driving. The right ingredients cooked at the right temperature creates the right dish for the right occasion, so, that the right person praises it and you.

To develop the right dish or formular, you need an alert mind, right time and, practice. Only then can the game be won.

Branding is also an art as the men who create Brands are expected to be creative. In realtity it is a combination of art and science. It takes creativity to conceive a piece of art but requires the  science of research, to gain an in-depth understanding about the subject.

The men of Branding
People who create brand are often termed as politicians. They are devils as they play with human emotions to attract consumers. They make advertisements, packs and other materials to reach to their consumer through every way. They sweeten the deal by offering freebies to entice customers to buy. However, human minds don’t realise these things are not done to trap consumers but to ensure that the benefits of the products are well known.

People and Brands
Brands inform people of the quality and features of a product. However, to inform human minds about the existence of brands, the men of branding hammer about the existence 24×7 on television channels. This causes consumers to flip the channels instead of learning more about the product and brand. 

Brands will keep making attempts to make lives better, knocking on doors and entering whichever way possible. A balance needs to be reached to ensure consumer education without causing irritation. 

Eleven years of my career in Branding, I have learnt patience is important. I am lucky to have received such a lovely exposure and so, I couldn’t help but share some of the insights into the branding process.

Writing the climax of your book

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We are characters and life is our stage. We live life every day, every hour and every second. If we claim that the situations we are surrounded with are pretty surprising then we are not being true to ourselves.

We know exactly ‘why’ we do the things we do and the probable outcomes of these actions. We are only reluctant about being proactive because we like having control over situations and deciding the outcome of the story.

‘The Story of Life’

A few days ago I read that everything can be slated by a person’s willpower including his birth and death. I wasn’t surprised by this interpretation of life. My lack of disbelief comes from the stories I heard as a child – stories about Indian mythology, supernatural powers, and about God and how he would grant us wishes. My belief or disbelief in the creator aside, there are many examples of human greatness. People with strong willpower have created history and become Gods of the Era.

I live my life with the belief that while I carve the climax of my life, I should occasionally stop to remember the fun times that occurred as I walked the path. So, it is important that I live life to the fullest; for if the journey is not fun would I visit those times again and again.

As I near the climax of my next Novel, I felt the desire to revisit my journey from a single idea to the climax. The power of thinking, the power of believing can help you create anything, work miracles.

When I write, I have the power to create not just the climax but also the complete story. With life the power rests with me and the Almighty. He gives me the wisdom to make the right decision but he probably does not retain the power to edit my life story or the climax of it. There is a tussle between the creator and the created. This tussle exists only because he gave us the power to think and act. All he has given himself the charge of is the incentives and fines. We receive incentives for all the right that we do and are fined for all the wrong we do. He could just grant us our desires but he controls or tempers our actions by tying us to the karma of time. I ask him to give me the wisdom to make the right decision while I live my life story and write a story, so that the climax is worthwhile.

As a writer, I have decided the climax of my novel. Whether it is correct or not, I do not know. I will share my story with you soon and then you will be able to decide if my story and climax lives up to expectations.

Happiness is infectious and in my happy mood pleased with the fruit of my labor, I wish you a happy life.

God bless!

 

Book Review – Gently falls the Bakula

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Shrimati and Shrikant were once classmates and neighbours but they were brought up in completely different family environments. Never realizing that one day they would become a couple. ‘Gently falls the Bakula’ is a story of love, friendship, marriage and the meaning of life.

Author Sutha Narayan Murti has weaved this story so beautifully that it leaves the reader with no option but to read. The first half of the story is set in Hubli, a small town and the pace of life. She slowly and beautifully graduates the story to the hardships and the luxuries of living in Mumbai. The characters are so well crafted thatthey come to life. You watch and lament as ambition begins to dominate life dominate life and the essence of relationships fades.

Shrimati and Shrikant, young couple begin their marriage with great love and passion. Yet as modern life gets a grip on their life, this intelligent couple cannot hold together. The intelligent Shrimati struggles to save her marriage as she loses her individual identity while the ambitious Shrikant loses himself in a career unable to see or grasp the sacrifices she makes for him.

Bakula symbolizes the love for the couple. It plays a very significantrole in the story. It says that despite of all the hardships, love standsstrong and rooted as long as they make an effort but the momentambitions replace love the symbol of love loses its meaning.

A short and sweet story scores 7 on 10 for its concept and simplicity. Author Sudha Murti has written many more short stories, since this was the first one I read so I felt it deserved to be one of the first books I reviewed.

For any couple who feels that they are missing something in life, I recommend this book. It will help you rekindle the good times andfind reasons to get back together. Nothing should replace love, especially not material things which do not last forever.

Stay together, stay happy…wait for my next review…!!

 

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Book review – The Zoya Factor

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There are many good books out there but often we don’t know which book to buy or to read. So, over the next few months, I will be reviewing different books from Indian and International authors. I will rate them based on story line, language and author.

The first book on the list is Zoya Factor.

Zoya Factor was released in 2008 and is one of the first Indian books with the print run of 20,000. It is written by Anuja Chauhan, one of my favorite Indian fiction authors. I found this book when I was looking for something light to read.

Zoya Factor revolves around the glamour of celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, the pulse of our nation – Indian cricket team, the hardships of advertising agencies and Zoya, an average girl hailing from Delhi Karol Bagh.

The author impressively uses a combination of English and Hinglish to weave a Cinderella love story in Karol Bagh Delhi. She ingeniously combines the sweetness of love with the harshness of advertising, politics, superstition and cricket. She effortlessly embroils you in the painfully drama of match fixing which nearly ruined our love of cricket and the reputation of our country. It is an emotional rollercoaster of cricket, politics and love. The only drawback was the repetition when meeting the Indian cricket team, which made the storyline a bit obvious at times.

All in all, it is a good read with a great ending. It’s a solid 8 out of 10. I definitely recommend reading the book.

P.S. I was so impressed with Anuja’s style of writing that I borrowed her concept of giving my novel DARK WHITE a local essence with typical young Bhopali to connect to the readers and add a local flavor.

Thanks Anuja! I hope we meet one day so I can talk to you and memorialize the occasion with your Autograph on my copy of ‘Zoya Factor’.

Season of love

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February is the season of expression, the season of togetherness and the season of romance. In February, we pay tribute to the ones we love as we celebrate St. Valentine’s day.

Valentine’s day is not a traditional Indian festival. It was introduced to the country during the 80s and 90s. It’s introduction was met with two very opposing reactions. The younger generation embraced it with enthusiasm while the older generations disapproved with equal fervour. This chasm was caused due to the hyped up commercial interpretation – a day for lovers. So, celebrating it brought disapproval. I still remember how my parent’s used to react – raised eyebrows and frowns.

Thankfully, over the decades the true meaning of the day has been revealed. Valentine’s day is not only a day to express your love to your spouse or a special friend of the opposing gender. It is a day to express your love and appreciation to all those you love. I am not sure precisely when the older generations began to accept Valentine’s Day as a day of love. I only became aware that perceptions had changed when my previously disapproving parents wished me Happy Valentine’s day. Either way, I am happy this change occurred. What is more delightful and fun is watching senior couples participating in spirit of the day.

India as a whole is changing and growing due exposure to different cultures. We have begun celebrating international festivals like Halloween while they celebrate Indian festivals like Holi. This respect of other cultures will hopefully breakdown barriers and bring about a more peaceful future.

May St.Valentine shower love on each one of you. Have a love filled life.

Happy Valentines Day

How to market your book

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In the past few weeks, we have been discussing the process of becoming an author. We have touched upon the steps involved in writing a book from concept to editing. We have talked about the process of publication from sending excerpts to a publishing house to the fine lines of signing a contract. This week will discuss the final step of becoming a successful author ‘How to market your book’.

The marketing aspect is typically handled by the Publishing House but you should have some knowledge to ensure your book is marketed successfully. There are 3 basic principles of marketing a book:

1. Target readers: Who is the books’ audience? Each genre, each book has a different audience. Know to whom your book will appeal. Knowing your target reader profile – gender, age group, profession and interest level. This will make marketing the book easier.

2. Target market: Ask where is the target market? It is important to know where your book will be marketed and distributed – metro, a particular geographical location or online. This will give you an idea of where you can self promote your book to build a brand and increase book sales.

3. How marketable is the book in terms of content and interactive level. This knowledge will give you an idea of which mediums you can use to self promote your book.

On the basis of the above points devise a marketing strategy for your Book. This strategy covers all the following platforms:

1. Your presence online
2. Your presence in the market
3. Your presence using other print mediums
4. At ground level events
5. Strategy on the next book

This work begins the day you sign the contract with your publisher. While they edit take the opportunity to start your work as an Author-Marketer.

Develop a presence online
Use platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest to help you connect with the world, your audience. Also, create a website to promote yourself and your future books. You can also blog posts to develop an online audience. This will give you a large and ready audience to share your creativity.

Develop a market presence
Once the book is in the market, arrange for meets-greets with store managers to understand how to reach your readers.

Develop a presence using print mediums
Use the print medium to build a presence for yourself and your book. By building a print presence you can connect to people, your target audience in your target market.

Develop a presence using ground level events
Be ready to shed your shy personality as readers want to know you and understand your thoughts. Interactive sessions about the book, about topics other than books are extremely important as they help connect author to audience.

Strategy for the next book
Once an Author, always an Author. Once the first book is complete you should be thinking about the next book. For example, Dark White my first book has been published and marketed for a year now. Soon you will see my next creative efforts.

How to publish a book

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aspiring authors, authors, book, book love, book writing, books, bookworms, novel, publishers, publishing, publishing houses, read, readers, reading, story telling, writers, writing

Becoming a published author is a dream many strive for but not everyone achieves.
In the past month, I have written about the different steps involved in crafting a spellbinding book.
Today, I will introduce you to the next step to becoming a published author ‘Publishing’.

Once the last word is written and edited, you cannot just sit at home and wait for a publisher to approach you. You need to start approaching publishing houses to get your book published.
The first step to publishing your book is research. You need to gain a good understanding of these three areas – good publication houses, the genre they focus on and how to approach them will increase your chances of getting published.
Good Publishing Houses
Go online and find the names of Publishing Houses. List them out, I created an excel sheet to make comparing them easier. This will help you decide to which Publishing Houses to send your book.
Also, find out the strength of their distribution network. A Publishing House with a strong network will ensure a wider audience which can bring more sales. This research will also help you understand how book stores work from where your book will be displayed to how it will be promoted.
Genre’s and Publishing Houses
Find out which authors reside under the Publishing House brand.You can learn author names from the company’s website or by spending time at book stores. This will give you a fair idea of which genres the house usually publishes.
Approaching a Publishing House
A good time to approach Publishing Houses is after you complete the First Draft. Send your list of shortlisted publishers –
1. Synopsis of the Book
2. First two chapters
3. A short Author introduction
Once you have sent the email, you have to have patience. Publishers take time to revert on your work. This period varies from publication house to publication house. Typically, they take one to six month. Check their website to verify the duration.
If a Publishing House shortlists your book, they contact you to view the entire book. Do not worry, good publishers respect your work as much as you do, the information is kept extremely confidential.
If they like the entire story, they will revert with a positive response and a soft copy of contract with terms and conditions.You can choose to contact or negotiate with other publishers. Or you can get the work started by signing the contract. The ball is now in your court.
So, if the draft of your first book is complete, then what are you waiting for?
Wish you all the Best!