Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Ad campaign i will love forever..

I am a marketing person, ok i know i am sales but i love creative stuff and i can proudly say that my advertising classes in ISB were fun and class apart, thanks to prof for them.. Now a days whenever i see ads, i try to see which part of human phscyche is it trying to address and whats the creative bit in it.. Recently smart and wit advertising has come into picture... I remember how much i loved to watch the fevicol ads at one point of time for the simple humour that it carried..
However, today i want to put forth the links of "Kuch Khaas hai hum sabhi mein" , yes you guessed it right, these are the lovely Cadbury ads which brought dairy milk to every household.. Amazing is how they matured their ads to cover all age groups and connected the product to spirit of life and trust me they remain to be one of my favs till date..
Here goes the links :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_2EEuW4r-w&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDuUIww9AIU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQBbT4t7l4k
http://www.youtube.com/results?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzlWQw7kJFo

And even this wasnt bad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=womx9GYLVD0

Some ads will stay for ages and years, and yes, they are just emotional ads.. There is no science and logic involved. :)

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Where life = Money!!

Last week was a bit tough on my physcal self. I had 20 mins between a meeting and getting somethings sorted. I decided to run 2.5 and get the work squeezed in the 20 mins. Everything worked out well, just that while coming back i fell on stone stairs, had some scratches here and there, but dint bother till they started showing two days later.
Worse was thursday evening, i started getting some slight eye infection in my left eye, again i dint bother much, but it was paining too much by friday mrng. Not being from bangalore, i usually go to this brand hospital chain for any of my issues. They recently opened a lavish clinic near my home and having too much work on my plate, i thought i must just get started with treatment without making it worse. I enter into the clinic and the lady cuts a bill even before asking me what was the issue. Anway, i pay. She puts me through a high heel fashionable doc and i am like wow, docs used to be smart but now they are glamorous too. The lady turned out to be hollow up above in her head. She checked my eye and told me that i had some severe issue and i might loose vision etc. I am usually cool headed, things did stike me once in head, but i just took it heads on. I said ok, so whats it? She said i will refer you to the biggest hospital in our chain, they will hospitalize you for a couple of days and if things work fine, you will be good. Now, she was getting over my nerves. "BOSS, i asked you a question, what is the problem??". She said i am refering to senior doc. Things will be fine. "Hang on, its just one eye, i get that as per your observation i am gettin blind by one eye,BIG DEAL, chill. I need answer to my question what is it?" She gives me some explanation and asks me to take it as urgent and meet senior doc immediately. I go out and ask the receptionist and she says the earliest you can get is next day afternoon. THAT WAS IT!! I was like Boss, why the hell did i pay to this idiot doc, she dsnt even know what is wrong, she refers me to a hospital in your chain, where again i need to pay a huge amount for a disease which none of you knows about AND above all, you have put anaesthesia in my eyes inplace of antibiotic, my eyes have been tossing between the tables for last 4 HOURS. GET LOST!! In meanwhile they tried very hard to freak me out. You should call your family, get your clothes packed, hospitalization is must. AND all this while, i am like, give me a break, i am not creating an issue out of it till i am sure that its going.
I called up my colleagues who is from bangalore and asked him, so who is the best eye doctor running private practice. I take his number and go to this doc. He looks into my eyes and says, eyes are good, dont worry, nothing major. Its just an infection. Stay here for 30 mins, will monitor which medicine works for you and you can go. I was like, "no hospital? And i thought i was getting blind?" He said NO, no hospitalization required and you are not getting blind. You need to take good care of your eye till it says i am fine and come and show me again tomorrow or may be just call me. We will see again in 5 days. I was stunned, i narrated the whole story of previous doctor and hospital to him, he just smiled and said, some people have equated life to money. There is no harm, but doctors job is to tell people they are not dying because he is there and not that they are dying even when he is not. The doc said that what hurts me is the fact that incase she thought your eyes had serious infection, she should have atleast put a doze of antibiotic in it, she dint, which means your eyes did not get treatment for 6 hours despite things being so serious as per that hospital's staff. Then he told me, why do you go there? Because its big brand, because you think they charge good money so they have good doctors?? I said i just know that i have visited that place thrice, and i see a pattern now. Last time i went was when i caught cold during swine flu scare days, the doc was again an idiot, she told me to take her experimental medicines for 2 days and incase i develop any kind of breathing trouble i should not see her, instead go to the main hospital of the chain and see some doctor. That time i questioned, why dont you do the tests now?? why wait for 48 hours to die?? And why should i go to someone else who has not treated me for 48 hours when my trouble is increased.

All i know is that Manipal chain is becoming ridiculous. They have converted medical business into money business. They should call their spokes blood test clinics, throw out all idiot doctors who are good for nothing and even worse is that their spokes use their brand and refer you to main Manipal for every treatment you take because i think they get some commission on referals, but when things go wrong, they say we are separate from Manipal. Good facilities and services without qualified doctors does not make brand, its a medical business. If your spokes mess up with my life, your main hospital does not get business even if your idiot spoke refers me a 100 times to you.

Here i am, with perfect eyes, its been 48 hours of proper care and medication at home, no hospitalization, and i can just tell all, that dont look at "cure and care" clinics, they should be renamed as beauty clinics. Go for doctors and not brands. When it comes to life, you give to a person who is responsible and not a brand which nourishes 100 idiots under it.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

There is something about people who fly.. :)

The week that went by was awesome in some sense. I met almost all the people who fly. I met a friend of mine who is a pilot in kingfisher, then my best pal and a another pilot friend.
I love my friend who is pilot with kighfisher for some very intended reasons - a) She is always smiling, come what may b) she is always positive come what may c) There is too much life all around her.. We just decided to stroll on the MG road and try some kerela delicacy.. She was in Bangalore for some flight simulation trainigs and as always she did not want to leave the city without meeting me.. As usual, she sorted a lot of questions which keep lingering on my mind..
Next day was my best pal, he is not exactly a pilot, but owing to his fancy job, he keeps flying almost every 4 days.. There was this huge stock on talks i had, that i dont like to work beyond 8 hours, that sometimes i feel i dont know what am i doing and what i want, that there are a 100 things i have no clue about.. And as always he just puts it all on rest by saying that nothing is worth the lovely smile on your face, so if 8 hours of work is what you want, 9th hour is not you.. if you dont know what you are doing, just dont bother doing it.. :) as always i feel pampered with my pal around, because all things have just one solution, nothing is worth your happiness.. Not that good words solve anything in life, but sometimes thats all you want..
Third was this dude i met while coming back from delhi last time on airport. He is a pilot and we ended up talking and hence becoming friends. He flew to bangalore and like being a good frend he called me and said we should meet. We had a long discussion on how he flies and whats it that he njoys most in his profession and why did he want to be a pilot. And then he asked me, "So, why MBA? Why sales? What's you?".. For a change i had nothing to speak.. i was smiling.. i just said, "You know there is something about people who fly.. I fly like you do, in my own world..I am free... I am an MBA and sales because i like to fly, but then there are multiple things that i see from height, which look upapproachable to me, i feel good that i am above all that, but someday i will just fly down to touch them all.. thats what i am.."
We both laughed at my confusing explanation, but then i insisted that it made a lot of sense and in the end he agreed that there is something about people who fly, and that the thrill to move up in life gets distracted when you look down in life, but then you just know you have taken off and someday you will go back.. :)

An amusing evening..

So, yesterday was Mr B's party. For those of you who dont know who he is, he is one of the 15 of us who joined sales in my org, a financial maestro and in general someone who gets what he wants, dont ask how and why because thats just him and no one asks him such lame questions.. His answer is tujhe mil gaya na, shanti rakh, dont get into the details.. :D
It was his house warming party, he has gifted a house to his parents. So, S, Kunal, Kajal, N, S, dada, and yours truly went for it. Basically, we go for all the parties and sometimes force people to give parties. The house was damn cool and its beautiful. But the point was the collection of all of us on friday evening. So, Kunal, Kajal and me, non drunkards get to view rest all jokers. I am shit scared of people who drink, may be because no one in my family drinks and i havent seen many ppl who are drunk. Yesterday was some fun, people were trying to tell me that they are harmless and that they dont get high, so i can be fine. So, i have no idea what is the calculation of drinks etc, but all of them were out. They say people's true self comes out then they are drunk and i can say for sure that all 15 of us are damn cute. Mr N had an issue that despite being intelligent, IIM, handsome, he has no queue of women who follow him(he always thought he will pick one of millions who will die for him once he is out of IIMs :D), apparently all others joined him and said its the same, it seems they all thought women will die for them, but the kinds tht die they dont want and the kinds they want dont look at them. This discussion went into analytical details with mr N taking the lead. It was indeed amusing on how N would say my woman and Sid will correct him everytime by saying "men- women". :D
And then Mr S was no where to be found for an hour or so, eone thought he was either talking to his girl frend or wishing his to be mum in law bday, but B found that he was fast asleep on bathroom floor, which much convincing people told him tht sleeping on bed is as comfortable as bathroom. He agreed in the end and slept off. I have no idea what will be his life, as he has garcefully missed the to be mum in laws bday. Anyway, he is usually sincere, but yesterday despite all best intents he missed it. :D
D with his eyes closed was extremely unhappy with women who have been giving him all lame reasons for not marrying him, the best was, "even a gal working in BPO says, she cant leave her career for me, someone please tell is this a career?.. :D" Sid brought the focus on dada, he has been exploited by women in general, listen to what he is going through. The fancy job, good money and foreign land, nothing seems to be exciting enough for women anymore. He has given up. He will now concentrate on selling and not think much. And D closed his eyes to go through the past cycles of exploitation.
Mr Sid who had a gal frend, now does not have one anymore, he is out in market, no wonder he keeps on correcting N, wo"men" not wo"man". :D He has no clue what life has in store for him, but currently because his gal frend can not adjust and is not willing to go to europe with him without a job, he can only look ahead, but then there is nothing in vicinity which he will realize soon. :D
Then starts the discussion on horror scope, the women N likes does not have enough numbers in horror scope and the ones with numbers whom his family likes, he dsnt like. :D Mr N is not happy about the pool of gals thats available in his community, suddenly eone is jealous of Mr B, apparently his community has more educated and smart women. Mr B takes the whole issue in his stride and smiles, probably trying to say, the pool is big, but the women in my pool marry outside pool, i am single and always ready to mingle but... :D
Suddenly Mr N turns towards me and K and goes, you are successful and blah bla blah, your pool is even smaller. You dont want to marry average guys, you want handsome, educated, successful, basically someone like me.. I give high 5 to Mr N for his self praise and without entering into discussion, ask him to continue...
Discussion moves through multiple rounds. Me, kunal and Kajal smiled through it and enjoyed it all.. Issue is no one knows what they want, they want it all - Intelligent, smart, educated, homely, working and non working at the same time, want to go abroad on H1 - still working, family pleasing, good dressing sense but should not ask for money.. everything.. What they fail to understand is that if a woman is all the above, she has to be a superwomen and she would not bother about their education, money and looks because she will herself have all and multiple options to pick from.. GUYS!! High time, correct your goals, or just keep your aspirations high and keep pursuing.. may be some day your sales pitch will fly and u will cut the deal... :D

Friday, October 30, 2009

The Liar's Poker

I picked this book as it is supposed to be a must read for all b school grads. Not many years ago for all the finance grads Ibanking was a job to watch for. I was always a strategy student, even when i did not know what it meant :P. I understand finance well because it is a part of day to day life and somehow the complex products never made sense to me because by the end of the day the monay making in financal markets is a case of arbitrage opportunities and i dont think any structured book can teach it.

Anyway, getting back to book, YES, this is one of the most interesting and hilarious read. I love the mind of the writer, the way he has seen all the characters around him and brought out the vanity of the whole game. He has talked about the fall of mighty Solomom Brothers, the arrogance of its employees and what led them to failure. I somehow miss the failure bit and i get attractd to the risk taking ability of Solomon guys. The writer has the most fun filled explanation on every decision and every character in the bank. He has projected himself as a young victim to the tyranny of his arrogant fat money making bosses and how he was fooled day in and day out till he learned the money making game and adjusted to the non existent culture of the firm. He has in most simple langauge explained the fianancial innovation which led to loss of billion dollars in the market. I like the character sketch, the innocent eyes of a young guy who enters trading floor and how he watches the ruthless trading floor aspiring to be one of them, but not knowing how and also doubting if he will be able to survive the game.

A very interesting read, you will remember humour for lifetime. Its intelligent, subtle and you can just relate to writer and laugh at it. I loved it. This is a good writing by Michael Lewis and i totally give him star 5 for his sense of humour.

Monday, October 26, 2009

So, what do you think??

Hmm.. So, i havent talked about my childhood gang for long now. One of the ganster has this very very sweetly irritating habit of turning towards me and asking, "So, what do you think." (Ok, if you are wondering whats so special about it, he knows that while the whole explanation was on, i was in my own world, i wasnt listening to it.).. Ahmm.. Umm.. Yep, its gud yaar. Hee hee , "Whats gud?" Errr.. "The stuff you just talked about." "Hee hee, which stuff?" ( OK, i am not deaf, you were talking about some long term plans and all and life and stuff, i will be creative , dont worry, here's the "stuff").. "The stuff about thinking and being serious and about what one wants and not want, you see it all makes so much sense. The serious thing." :D "Hmm.. so whats your opinion on it." ... :P "Yep, you make sense dude and now spare me, you know i wasnt listening, dont get after my life, nothing new about it".. "Hee hee, how do you manage to watch a dog so diligently while such a serious thing is being discussed." ... :P "Errr... umm.. dog is also serious.. it deserves attention, just because its a dog, you cant ignore it. And you think your talk is serious and not the poor dog, just because its an animal. "(OK, i had no clue what was i speaking, but i can be really convincing when i get down to it, you see... :D).................................................Long Pause till 3 of them burst into laughter....................................

Here was the killer, the what do you think guy, "I know dog has every right to attract and probably dog and his attention seeking character is a really serious matter which i will sort with it. I understand. However, i fail to understand why dont human get importance in life, what is it that dogs bark have and human talks dont have. Why does barking dog get more attention than talking human?? WHY? Just because he/she is a human?? WHY?? "
............................................ :P
"Errr... i dont know.. may be.. but trust me being human is not all that bad.. dont start aspiring for a dog's life.. i lost the discussion mid way, so kind of started ignoring it and admiring dog.. but i do think, what you think is right about the stuff that you talked about.... " :D

Talkathon!!

Ok, now i am going to boast about the extra large friend circle that i have. Did i tell you my dear blog that i love to just talk and talk and talk, so i am basically branded talkative, but there is nothing much i can do about it. Thats the basic need for me. I survive on talks and people say i can talk to stone if nothing works out.
So, when your problem is talking, you come across some interesting discussions and you kind of wonder whats the point. I go for these walks at night for 30 min which is very dear to me. If i manage to catch hold of someone to walk with me, i happily do away with the ear phones and music. And i usually get some new people. As and when you walk with people for lets say 4-5 times, eone has a story to tell, sometimes about work, sometimes about relations and sometimes about aspirations. Aspirations have no end, i think eone should have it, but at the same time they should not take away your sleep. Just live life. Work: there is always a lousy, idiot, who makes life hell for all, so just chill, he/she is not worth being given so much importance in life. Relations: OK, this is one discussion which has various flavors, some are interesting. First is : his money, my money .. in my home all money is eone's money, its been like that for years and its difficult to tag whose is it and youngest at home is pampered in kind.. i like this.. ( OK, i know i am the youngest.. :P)
Location.. we all are earning.. hmmm.. But why?? anyway, who ever thought about it.. After all Geeta said,"Karm karo, fal ki iccha na karo, so keep earning, dsnt matter if 10 people work in 10 different locations, spend double the amount and fight everyday.. by the end of the day eone is earning.. I am amused.. :D i am also earning, but then issue is everyone else is also earning, so its not something unique to spend an evening thinking about..
And then there are loads of things which come out and i keep listening to them and thinking whats life all about by the end of the day? Is it about the million dollar deal we ran after in morning? Or about the lunch that i had with my colleagues? or the friends i made who just happened to be mine? or the family that waits for the time i see them? Do i have complains? YES, i am human i have reasons and complains in everythng that exists in the way it exists and thats what makes me do better in life. Issue is not that people have complains, issue is that there is no mindset to resolve. And there is bigger ego to protect from any kind of resolution to creep into life. In all my walkathons, i hear the same complaints, there are same characters, there probably is a solution, but then that will kill the stories of my walkathon, so i am not interested. :D