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?
As I’d written in my Owleye column this month, there are plenty of global summits and conferences this summer and all the way up to the new year. It makes sense at a time of heightened conflicts and geopolitical tensions, not to mention wars. In a year where my blog is celebrating 25 years of… Continue reading Brands Addressing Global Issues – Part 1
Time to turn my attention to brands once again, after all the chaos and confusion that Trump’s tariffs have caused from the start of this year. I must say, though, that if companies have to raise prices of their goods in the US and elsewhere, it ought to be because of a superior dimension to… Continue reading Hardwiring Brands into Products and Services
It’s that time of the year. The festive season is here in India and soon, it will be around the world. The festive spirit is in the air and in many countries, it means partying, gifting and sharing good times together. Economically, it could also be just what the doctored ordered, at a time when… Continue reading A Holidays Campaign Idea for Pernod Ricard
Sometime during the Covid-19 pandemic – not a great time for wining and dining, or travel and socialising – I had put my thoughts down on a corporate brand strategy for Pernod Ricard, the world’s No. 2 wines and spirits company. I wrote and shared this on my blog along with corporate campaigns for the… Continue reading Pernod Ricard and Seagram: Reconsidering the Brand Relationship
There are times in every brand or company’s life, when it ages, or its audience ages, or the brand’s performance seems jaded and stuck in a rut. The reasons could be many. From the product’s features not keeping pace, to the market having outgrown the product, to stiff competition in the marketplace. We have all… Continue reading Spotting Brands with Revival Power
Sometime in 2019, I had written a blog post about brands ageing well and in it I had lamented the fact that every brand wants to chase millennials and Gen Z, whether it makes sense for the brand or not. Therefore, every brand also wants to always be young, hip, cool and trendy, whether it… Continue reading How Can Brands Grow Without Growing Old?
In my last blog post on brands, I had written about brands having the ability to affect and influence companies’ operations at the corporate level, not merely at the marketing level. That is, if brands are used to determine and guide a company’s direction. If used strategically and imaginatively well, brands might even help reinstate… Continue reading How Brands Can Propel Business Strategy Forward
We all talk of brand equity, especially in the advertising and brand communications industry. The Economic Times in India even has an advertising and marketing supplement called Brand Equity. What exactly do we mean, when we speak of brand equity? The term has come to encompass many aspects of a brand’s growth, from brand awareness… Continue reading Between Equity and Valuations, What Brands Represent
As an advertising and brand communications professional who has been observing and working on brands for many decades, it strikes me that there are many industries and indeed companies in India that are ripe for market segmentation. In marketing, of course, that would mean tailoring specific products/brands to meet the specific requirements of select groups… Continue reading Market Segmentation: Different Strokes for Different Folks
Peripatetic Perch 