What Cultural Hibernation Can Feel Like

Years ago, I had written a blog post on how being out of work for so many years in the advertising industry in India felt like being in exile. In exile with my own thoughts and ideas on brands, besides all the other subjects I write about on my blog. From the Indian and global… Continue reading What Cultural Hibernation Can Feel Like

COP28 Ending on a Timid Note

In my last few blog posts on climate change and how it affects the poor, I had wondered how a COP summit being held in hydrocarbon heartland would go. On the one hand, it could be stymied by all the powerful interests in fossil fuels present in the region as many of their economies are… Continue reading COP28 Ending on a Timid Note

What To Expect from the Global Economy in 2024

We’re nearing the end of 2023, and it appears that most economies have managed to stave off a recession, except Germany, Austria, Poland and Sweden among advanced economies that might still close the year a little in the cold. Ireland too looks surprisingly weak in 2023, but not if you consider the previous two years… Continue reading What To Expect from the Global Economy in 2024

Advertising and Media in The New World

Recently, I wrote a piece here on my blog examining how much had really changed in the way consumers make their brand purchase decisions in today’s world. And I concluded that while plenty had changed in the technology dimension of advertising and marketing, consumers still make their brand choice decisions the way they always have.… Continue reading Advertising and Media in The New World

Protected: Winding-Down-2023 Reading

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India in Need of Industrial Policy 4.0

Two most dreaded words in economic circles and think-tanks these days is industrial policy. It is frowned upon because it has come to be associated with all the negatives of government intervention. Politics, geo-politics, picking winners, wasteful subsidies and creating distortions in what ought to be a free market economy. It has become a term… Continue reading India in Need of Industrial Policy 4.0

India is Bucking the Economic Slowdown, Or Is It?

It is corporate earnings season once again! And while we wait for major corporations the world over to declare their earnings, we are also watching India Inc’s earnings report for the September 2023 quarter, which falls just before the festive season in India. In fact, because Diwali is slightly later than usual this year, we… Continue reading India is Bucking the Economic Slowdown, Or Is It?

Global Economy Still Searching for Direction

The last time I wrote about the global economy, I wrote about its fractious state, thanks to the geopolitical tensions all around. This time, I thought I would look at it from the multilateral institutions’ point of view and then share my own thoughts on where the global economy might be headed. As I write… Continue reading Global Economy Still Searching for Direction

Greening the Planet Against Climate Change

As has become commonplace these years, 2023 too has been a year of extreme weather conditions, natural disasters, excessive and unseasonal rainfall in some places, drought in other places. We know that extreme weather conditions and natural calamities are becoming the rule, but it doesn’t conform to any pattern and we are unable to mitigate… Continue reading Greening the Planet Against Climate Change

Have Consumers Changed the Way They Make Brand Decisions?

In the old days when I was still a cub copywriter in the advertising industry in India – which is around 35-40 years ago – the prevailing marketing wisdom was that the consumer or customer is the one who makes the biggest decisions on brands. “Customer is King” was always heard at meetings, in conference… Continue reading Have Consumers Changed the Way They Make Brand Decisions?