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Excerpt: I can’t remember who said it, but whoever did is certainly a major dude. I guess it must be John Lasetter, the CEO of Pixar in one of his interviews for Harvard Business Review in September. Not the exact words though: “You give a good product to a mediocre team, they will mess it up, you give a mediocre product to a great team, then you are bound to succeed” I am certainly not implying Obama’s mediocre…he’s superior (More about it later…), but he’s had an incredible marketing team. Too few words to describe, but probably, I will do a long post…
Obamania: The Marketing of a President
Saurav’s Comments and Kumble’s Farewell
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Excerpt: Anil Kumble’s already bid farewell to Cricket. Living in the same neighbourhood as Kumble, I feel privileged for the gentle giant. He’s put in long yards. He’s not naturally talented, but his perseverance is a lesson in many senses. Another one’s biting the dust on Sunday…he’s had a raw deal, seen ups and downs…but his final words does leave a lasting impression. During the felicitation ceremony on the final test match of the Border-Gavaskar trophy, the man in question had pretty simple words…but it struck me as the wisest… “Over the last 13-14 years I’ve made some friends and I’ve made…
The Science of Marketing Apple
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Excerpt: Apple’s approach to product innovation, marketing & branding is legendary. Despite having a minimalistic presence in the advertising Arena, the company evokes sufficient interest from people who matter the most, customers. Apple’s customers are usually early adopters and if you give a high quality, well designed product to early adopters, then you can certainly expect others to follow them, which has always played a central role in Apple’s success. It has done a wonderful job of creating an Apple culture, where people are waiting to take cues from the company and advertise repeatedly through the simplest forms of advertising -…
Is Xobni – The Wonder Email Plugin for Outlook the future of social networking?
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Excerpt: I have been using Xobni (for inbox spelled backwords) for a couple of days and I must say its an incredibly handy addon. It transforms the otherwise torpid Microsoft Outlook into a powerful email client. And for a feature rich add on like Xobni, it’s hard to believe that it’s being offered free. Started by Adam Smith and Matt Brezina in 2006, with investments from several reputed venture capitalists and a few angel investors, the company has created ripples in the recent months owing to $20 million acquisition rumours by Microsoft. Apparently, after a series of discussions Xobni…
Get Your Website Right For Driving Up Sales
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Excerpt: Online retailers often face a huge conundrum. Although their primary objective is to drive traffic to the site and ultimately sales, they have to battle with a variety of mediums to achieve this. From the site development and maintenance to user experience, occupying enviable spots on search engines, and reinforcing the companies presence on various forms of online media, is all a massive challenge particularly in a web 2.0 driven age. Despite the surge in internet users, online shopping is still a distinct experience from visiting a high street retailer. Consumers Shopping online not only get a cost advantage, but…
Opinion: What’s wrong with investment firms?
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Excerpt: Do they really need more public money? Over the weekend, I was quite disappointed to find the fourth largest investment firm, Lehman Brothers collapse. There had been plenty of speculation on companies that could bail out Lehman, and with Barclays walking out late Sunday evening, Lehman had no option but to file for bankruptcy. As far as my memory recollects, even last year, Lehman had posted above average net profits, despite the volatility in the market. Filing for a chapter 11 bankruptcy protection comes as a huge surprise. Arguably, it is one of the biggest collapses of the century. With a…
Crafting a Green Business Strategy
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Excerpt: Going green seems to be the industry buzz word these days. Everyday I get many emails announcing the launch of eco-friendly, ethical, green websites and services. Clearly, green seems to be selling. Businesses are trying to cash in on this phenomenon. Not the Arena Flowers is lagging in terms of being green. From the beginning we have shaped a green, ethical outlook to our business. We are trying to differentiate our USP by being a green florist. However, there are still many areas where we could improve and we are working on this. In the recent years, a company’s environmental emphasis…
The Power of Email Communication – How to Win People
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Excerpt: For a marketing professional, I am rather quiet and reserved, though I am aware that I need to be bit more outgoing to nudge ahead of my career. So for the past few days, I have been reading a few self-development books and one of the first ones I picked was the much celebrated self-help classic by Dale Carnegie, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. Although I believe that soft skills are often intrinsic, this book certainly has the right ingredients to change your approach towards people. Not that I have been conscious of how I have interacted with…
Google Adds Fuel to the Browser War
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Excerpt: When Will asked me to do a post on a website trying clone Arena Flowers, it coincided with Google’s launch of the Chrome web browser. I had related the two and was about to hit the publish button, when I realized it makes little sense to tie in a search behemoth to a little known flower website based in Australia. So abandoned the post and decide to port it to my blog instead. Over the years we have seen many successes being replicated and at times these imitations have gone on to do better than their predecessors. Take the issue of…
Social Media Marketing at Dell: Strategies for Success
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Excerpt: After a long hiatus owing to a few personal commitments which has kept me busy for a while, I have come back to continue my infrequent updating on the blog. It’s ironical that in the age of Social Media Marketing, actively pursued by individuals and corporates alike, Longhop has such long gaps between posts. Strangely, the current post focuses on highlighting how Social Media can contribute to the success of a business. Obviously, the inspiration to post on Social Media surges from the recent Online Marketing & Media event I attended at the Business Design Centre in Islington. We have had…
