My Encounter with Terror

To experience real India you need to travel by train and so I did with my four year old last month. The journey was a 14 hour trip from my home town to the states capital.( Mind you, this journey should not be construed as an austerity drive by Federal Finance Minister of India)

I reached my seat bidding farewell to my parents and noticed a suspicious looking brown bag unattended in the same coupe. As the train gained momentum I got more anxious and alerted the official. With his experience in Indian railways the grey haired ticket collector advised me to stay calm and assured owners sight

Moments passed and to safe guard my four year old’s life along with mine I moved to the farther end of the compartment recalling horror images I witnessed on TV and also realized some times, lives of people hinge on attentiveness of other. Fatalities can never be undone and hence I was pressing for immediate action over the unclaimed, unattended, suspicions brown bag.

The conductor walked towards the bag and opened only to announce that there four steel boxes inside the bag wrapped in plastic. Panic then gripped my fellow passengers as the train was in motion and nothing can be done to fix it. We sought the help of a stick wielding police men who was brave enough to pick the bag and drop it at the washroom and closed all the doors to our compartment as a precaution. He reasoned that should there be a remote with a passenger it may not detect as the door is closed. Believe we had to do with him because we had to stay optimistic.

I called few friends and alerted them my coach number and the trains name just in case.

Most of us did advise the conductor and the policemen to throw the bag from the train but they did not heed to our pleas as they reasoned that it may contain something valuable and that they would prefer to hand it to the next stations manager

There was no means to alert the next station about the ordeal we are going through .Thank fully as the next station approached, my co-passenger walked in to claim for the bag and also clarified about the steel boxes having dinner for his parents who were travelling in the next compartment

I can say those were the torturous 90 minutes of my life brushing with terror. Am I prepared? Ahem not really

Art of War

In the middle of the night yesterday, my spouse woke me with an update that she could hear footsteps and that she suspected we had an intruder at home.

Being the only male member (my four years old is in India now enjoying his vacations) at our home I had to pull up all my courage and decided to inspect my home. As I was taking careful tip toe steps towards the dark corridor I was recollecting those action strokes from kung fu panda film – just in case should I encounter someone I can pass a kick or two.

I was convinced by the sheer panicky tone of my spouse on the presence of intruder and hence deep inside I was also calculating my exit plans – should I give up or should I take a strategic position and wait in darkness or should I engage the intruder and call for help or should I go aggressive and switch on lights and announce to the intruder that it’s time to show up and that the game’s over?

The episode made me recall reading a few lines of the art of war way back in my earlier days at work and hence could not recall any moves. However one statement lies very close to my heart and I believe it is so relevant in the corporate world: ‘All warfare is based on deception. If your enemy is superior, evade him. If angry, irritate him. If equally matched, fight and if not: split and re-evaluate’

After 15 minute of thorough search, I realized it was a false alarm and that my spouse was affected by an overdose of reality shows on the television.

Though I would love to express my views on these reality shows as a marketer I support all these channels because they are trying to get more ratings to their programmes, aiming at more viewership and since the advertisers are guaranteed more viewers and hence the returns on investment measures well.

Brand Choice

It has been almost two weeks since we left our four year old at my parent’s home in India- two reasons triggered this – the hot and humid climate in this part of the world and an ideal opportunity to connect my parents with their grandchild emotionally

As humans we are powered by emotions and not by logic and this is the attribute we marketers use to connect with consumers - As we know emotions lead to action.

So what drives emotions - may be the endorsements or the way it is communicated would trigger them. Endorsements can come from close friends, co-workers or anyone who influences your life.

Then why do we buy brands? May be to fulfill our emotional needs – advertising creates the right to chose and the brands tend to promote a product through experience - an emotional connection is therefore formed

I strongly believe it is the emotional connect which would go a long way in a brand choice.

Financial institutions do not connect emotionally to consumers but are always rational, for we in marketing assume our target group is well informed, astute and number savvy hence, emotional route will not work. Of the top 100 brands globally only seven financial brands made it in the list considering that almost half of world population would have experienced a bank in some form or the other.

Our industry is unique – a product can be rolled out from the assembly line within 24 hours – product extensions, product innovations are possible at short notices – and then it is up to the creative agencies to spin an acceptable proposition for our target consumers to decipher, accept and consume the product.

You can promote a carbonated brand quickly and can consume it, at the same pace but banks have the target group captive for life – this means constant customer engagement, cohesive communication across touch points and innovation will earn the emotional respect and affection.

An ideal brand engagement for a bank should consider this and work on the above

Ideal Work Place

A close friend and a critique went for an interview and was referring to an interviewers question about her ideal work place. Considering that I have worked in advertising agencies to more serious corporates (banks), thought it is a good idea to carry it on.

There are many metaphors for workplace. My first work place was like a family – very well connected - and still connected through Facebook

Most of the creative agencies are like college days. Optimistic, full of life, and no back pack egos – unlike the corporate world

My previous bank was more like a strategic design unit in an automobile manufacturing company where every individual is well oiled (informed), thorough in their field and people worked together in sync to perform their tasks. It is one of the best in the country even till date and it is synonymous for product innovation in UAE. It has many firsts to its credit

An ideal work place is the one which
• Allows innovation and is believed from top down
• Inspires people to bring the best
• Supports and promotes camaraderie at work
• Snubs nepotism

I am lucky to have worked in one in my earlier stints and positive best brands roll out from the best work places as, it is the people who create a brand from their positivity and the environment.