Category Archives: PUBLISHED ARTICLES

DO YOU HAVE A MAP FOR BRAND-i

Explorers don’t need a map. They are adventurous. They love taking risk. However, most of us are navigators. For us, life is a journey. And most of us don’t have a map for it. We work with vague sense of direction. We keep defining the destination and the road that will lead us there. We… Read More »

Return of the STEREOTYPED MOM!

Nothing has changed. Women empowerment and all. The situation is much different than what the advertising fraternity will want us to believe. In some Hindi film, there was a dialogue, ‘Yeh saala itna kameena hai ki apni maa ko baych kayega’. No, we are not that bad, but we still  overtly trigger desired  sentiments and… Read More »

7 Brand Creative you can’t ignore

This week I am taking a detour to share some of the work, which I believe must be appreciated. Story-telling is a key pivot for the communication business. And if one can make the static medium like Print come alive with a story that involves and engages the reader, the job is done. Unfortunately, such examples… Read More »

Why Brands must consider sequential story telling for impact and involvement

Who doesn’t love storytelling? I love the stories, where a chapter is closed in duality compounding the ambiguity. It forces the reader to acknowledge the power it wields, and the reader ends up turning the page for more. How many times have I been held captive by such narrative, ending up finishing the it in… Read More »

SEXUAL HARASSMENT – Raising the voice early, still the best solution

(The article was also published in THE ISLAND, Leading Sri Lanka newspaper  on 30th April 2017) In the recent times, there have been multiple high-profile cases of sexual harassment reported in the media. Some of the prominent ones are Arunabh Kumar, RK Pachauri, Tarun Tejpal, Ashok Kumar Ganguly, Mahesh Murthy and Sumant Bhattacharya. In September 2016,… Read More »

Celebrity endorsement and Why self-regulation is not ASCI’s Job

Self-regulation must begin with ‘I’ before it can migrate to ‘We’ and ‘US’. So, when Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) President Srinivasan K Swamy, suggests that ‘be it an advertiser briefing an agency or an agency briefing their team, it’s time we add the ASCI code sign-off to every advertising brief’, for a moment… Read More »

GOAFEST 2017- 13 constructive suggestions because PERFECTION is always WORK-IN-PROGRESS.

In my last post, I had said that Goafest 2017 would surpass expectations and I must repeat that I do believe it has. Unfortunately, the expectations with the team of supermen and superwomen organising Goafest were super-high too. Hence, we delegates – personally, individually and collectively – found issues to crib with some of what… Read More »

GOAFEST- expected to surpass expectations !

GOAFEST- 2017, Expect it to surpass expectations. But here is something to think about. Tomorrow, the 12th annual Advertising Marketing Media and Technology KHUMBH of India: GOAFEST, a joint initiative of AAAI and The Ad Club India start at Grand Hyatt, Goa. In the first year, delegates checking into their rooms found an emergency kit… Read More »

SMILEY BRICKS- a simple idea.

Symbols communicate concepts. They are a certifying proof. Implicit in them is an understanding and trust. The Green Dot says it is or vegetarian origin. The Red Cross with arms of equal size denotes protection and care. The sign says medical. Good Weave symbolises Child Labour-Free Weaving. What about the Smiley? We are all conversant… Read More »

Why single lane swimming is not good for your career

Organisations are complex entities. They thrive on templates and constrained experimentation. There is a discipline defined by department, position and work responsibilities. Each of them has their own agenda, objectives and SOPs. They are supposed to magically merge for the organisation to attain its goal. You are one of the units there. You have been… Read More »