In line with my blog’s Brandology theme this year, I am writing about a brand that underwent a merger at the start of this millennium in India and is still languishing as the number two in an industry that is itself in serious trouble. In the previous blog post, I wrote about the problems facing… Continue reading The Botched Air India Merger and What It Could Have Been
For the fourth-largest economy in the world, India has an airlines industry that is a sad commentary on our transportation sector. With plenty of gleaming airports across the country, we have only two fully functional airlines (or should I say, dysfunctional airlines) in Air India and Indigo operating domestically. Our airlines industry opened up to… Continue reading Gleaming Airports, Shambolic Airlines
As I have written in a previous blog post, we have begun the New Year on a rather dramatic note, at least geopolitically. And a lot of these kinds of developments are likely to have serious ramifications on the economic front as well. In fact, geopolitical as well as geoeconomic risks are the greatest risks… Continue reading What We Can Expect from the Global Economy in 2026
It’s not exactly a New Year Resolution since I don’t believe in them. But I do intend to explore more on brands and brand-building in 2026, including mainly their connection and relationship with companies and with corporate brands. I have spent the past couple of decades thinking and working on brands – if only on… Continue reading 2026 The Year of Exploring Brands’ Corporate Connections
I have been writing on the travails of the advertising industry on my blog for the past couple of years at least. These are based on my observations from the outside, since my career in advertising in India was wrecked over two decades ago by unprofessional organisations. These problems have now reached an existential crisis… Continue reading How the Advertising Industry Can Reinvent Itself
It’s almost 20 years since I left New Delhi for my aged parents’ home in Chicalim, Vasco, Goa in October 2008. When I watch scenes of the smog-filled air in Delhi-NCR play out on English news channels at this time of the year, year after year, I count myself lucky to not be living or… Continue reading Time Indian Cities Promoted Metro Rail Travel
It was long overdue. In fact, GST should have been launched in 2017 with no more than a couple of slabs. Ideally, it should have been just one at 18%. But in a country like ours where most of the population can barely afford even the daily essentials, perhaps a rate of 5% on some… Continue reading How Car Companies Should Make the Most of GST Rationalisation
The Indian economy is growing at a reasonably rapid pace, though nowhere near the 8%-9% growth recorded in the early and mid-2000s. Still, considering the two huge shocks the world economy has faced in the past two decades – the 2008 Financial Crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic – we have to say that India has… Continue reading It is Time to Build Brand India
In an earlier blog post on media brands, I had written that BBC’s coverage of the conflict in Gaza was found wanting, and that I was particularly disappointed because I happen to be a regular BBC World News viewer and because I had done some advertising work for BBC when they were launching India-specific programmes… Continue reading How the BBC Can Become More Competitive
The festive season is already upon us in India. From Janmashtami - that celebrates Lord Krishna’s birth – which just went by, to Diwali and Dussehra and to Christmas and New Year, accompanied by the wedding season, India is meant to be in a festive mood for more than half the year. It is a… Continue reading Does India, the Land of Festivals, Lack Imagination?
Peripatetic Perch 