Up In The Air

The recession may be short or long; jobs may come back to financial services or not. Some sectors may even do well in a recession. The truth is that no one knows.

In the end, the answers to macro questions like these don’t much matter, because career transition in good times or bad is always an individual journey. The way to discover the kind of work you want to do — or might be available to you

After watching Up in the Air by George Clooney sure the question may prop up on being fired - the state of mind which plays in every ones heart - what will I say to my children? - how will I be able to pay my mortgage EMI - how will I ever take care of my ageing parents - how will I meet my daily chores and still stay positive

What George Clooney portrays in the movie was about an astute, cynical professional whose job is to make people redundant. It is. indeed a painful move- many may survive sheerly by their hard work, their affinity to the bosses or by sheer luck

The most important thing I learned last year was not to wait until the ax falls to start building relationships. It’s hard to “network” unless you have exercised those networking muscles well before the pink slip arrives. Take full advantage of social networking resources whether they are online or over a cup of coffee. Help other people as much as you can, even if it’s just by being a listener.

As said by one of my earlier Human Resources head - ex-employees are the best brand ambassadors - never stay negative about your company - in these tough times what matters the most is how well you evolve from the difficult scenarios posed
May be few months later you may consider this as an opportunity in disguise - never let the ambition and passion die

One mantra which I believe is a killer is to be optimistic and keep things in perspective — things could be worse. And I know it’s a cliche but it’s true: don’t burn bridges.

Stop Press

Last week Indian Press was after the Prime Ministers Office and also on a Minstry for publishing a full page press advert on Girl Child education with a wrong image of a Pakistani Army General.This indeed is a big blunder and few scribes did further research on the ad agency which created the the advertisement. However, the blunder no doubt is unacceptable what is important is to probe on why did this happen?

No federal departments are ad savvy similar to FMCG's or banks and I beleive the honorable minister was releasing her first advert in her 30+ year career and thanks to the blunder sure she would lose her job in the next cabinet reshuffle

Noticed some thing very similar here in Dubai but this time a large centre spread double page ad from the the largest bank in UAE promoting their new brand with a tag line - where the world comes to bank - the blunderthis time being next to their logo they even carried a competitive banks building along with their logo. Though it was too small to be noticed but then it is indeed a major blunder. The visual looks quite cliched as well with a photoshop work showing all major landmarks across the globe to connect to their tag line and no relevanceto the new brand or its core pillars

Who needs to own up? We cannot shoot the messenger and in this case the media agency or the publishers but definitelythe onus should be on the communications team ( both at client and agencies end) which vetted this prior publishing. As some times the agency does place dummy visuals till such time the client approves the concept and the text and in the hurry of meeting the publishers deadline I am positive this would have been ignored

However, other than getting compliance and the unit head to cross check the visual it is always important for the marketingteam to fine comb the creative before pressing 'ok' from their outlooks.

Corporate campaigns should reflect on the brand and messaging should be anchored around their core pillars - than being too cliched.

Lesson (1) learnt from my Everest Base Camp Trek programme

As a prelude to my earlier blog on new years resolution I initiated a trek to Everest Base camp this year with a scheduled summit date as 15th August. Motivated few friends to join me for this as I wanted to do it for a cause - which would help me close on this years resolution of charity work.

Thanks to google and the numerous web sites which guide a novice like me to do the difficult task I' ve found some thing very useful - Walk like a Nepali. As in get into their shoes, feel their motivation and walk. As walking is at the very heart of the adventure and some attention should be given to the way it is performed. "Walking like a Nepali" is the best way to enjoy the adventure. Highlanders! - Most paths follow the shortest possible way between two points regardless the slopes. It is tiring, but unless the trekker is ready to create new paths, that’s the only option. Such an approach demands a different type of walk. A Nepali kind of walk.

For some one in Business Intelligence or in marketing a customer is just a number. We measure him by means of quantum of deposits he has with our bank or with the number of different product relations he has but we never get into his shoes and think about him

Ive promised myself to be closer to customers, hear them, understand them and then establish channels to connect with them

Fitness Club - Cross Sell

The years coming to close and I have gone back to my January pages of this year to cross check if I could manage to close at least two of the five new year resolutions for this year. Since I planned to lose weight I enrolled in a fitness club for a crash course to ensure I live up to my promise. It has been two weeks since I started going there but after a quick two week check I realized I am a regular there but not doing the thread mills but borrowing DVD's from their huge collection

This comes to a very important aspect for any retailer - Cross Sell

Considering marketing spends are down and the cost of sourcing a "good customer" is high - marketers are looking at options to explore cross sell opportunities. Cross sell leads to customer retention which did happen in my case - the terminology may vary from Inbound sourcing to Social or need base marketing the mantra remains the same - catch the customer when he is captive

In my fitness club case the information was key for my repeat visits - this is the most critical element for cross sell too. Information is the key and the front end needs to link up their products info to the customers welcome pack and follow up with them for a closure

The welcome kit in their case was a branded back pack and a t shirt with key messaging for motivating me to take the extra mile to fulfill my new year resolution

Since I am just two weeks away have decided to extend this and keep it as my one of two resolutions for 2010. I wish to do some thing for charity next year - may be a trek to Everest Base camp and this will cross sell my earlier commitment of losing excess fat - till such time I wish to enjoy the lovely weather in Dubai and add on few more kilo calories