Thursday, February 3, 2011

WPP Atticus 'Under 30 Essay' Contest 2009 entry

“The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function” – F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Crack-Up, 1936. Do you agree with the statement? Or disagree? Or both? Please be as specific as possible and limit your answer to 1000 words.

Understanding the context -

Before debating the degree of agreement with the given statement, it’s important to step back and analyse the circumstances under which F. Scott Fitzgerald had made this observation. An established, well-acclaimed author witnessed a steep downfall after years of literary stardom. His personal problems along with his alcohol addiction further catalysed the southward process. This resulted in a physical and mental breakdown, which forced the author on the path of self-expression and public confession through his writings.

Fitzgerald always imagined himself among the top literary personalities. Despite his continuous downfall, he brought alive his imagination through his writing skills and determination. In his own words, he saw the improbable, the implausible, often the “impossible”, come true. His observation - The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function – was inspired by his own life. He managed to see the light at the end of the never-ending tunnel of sadness and despair. Whether it was a reality or an illusion, he decided to chase it. Oscillating between emotions and thoughts as varied as success and failure, illusion and disillusion, dream and nightmare, Fitzgerald managed to walk towards the literary nirvana.

Dissecting the statement -

Fitzgerald’s observation needs to be analysed in two parts. Firstly, the ability to hold two opposite ideas in the mind at the same time reflects an individual’s capability to think rationally. Secondly, retaining the ability to function requires eliminating one of the ideas in the given context and determination to implement the other.

In other words, despair and opportunity can co-exist. It’s all about leveraging those opportunities. Remember, the half empty glass is always half full.

The opinion -

Having discussed the context, judging an individual’s intelligence on the basis of his/her capability to hold two opposite ideas and still retain the ability to function is not suggested. The first part signifies the ‘rationality index’ of an individual whereas the second part requires will power and determination. Is there is no correlation between rationality, determination and intelligence?

One of the brilliant corporate examples of rational thinking combined with determination is Nokia. In the late 80’s Nokia diversified into several new fields, mostly by acquisitions. However, in the early 90’s, the company ran into serious financial problems due to heavy losses posted by its television manufacturing division and other diverse business units (footwear, wood products etc). The situation changed from bad to worse when a suspected total burnout probably contributed to the suicide of Kari Kairamo (CEO, Nokia) in 1988. The situation worsened further when Finland underwent a severe economic depression in the early 90’s. It impacted Nokia as well.

Nokia decided to divest itself from all the diverse businesses and focus solely on the business of future – telecommunication. Today, the brand Nokia is worth more than $35billion. It required a great deal of risk-taking ability and determination for Nokia to convert a hopeless situation into an opportunity of a lifetime.

Managing two conflicting ideas is a challenge. If done successfully, the existing norms and beliefs are shattered and a more evolved and relevant belief system emerges. More recently, the established economic models of the West, once considered as the benchmark, gave up to the recession. What survived were the lesser mortals – India and China. The perceptions have changed and the Asian economies are more respected than ever before.

The alternate perspective -

Not every competitive frame of reference is black or white. On several occasions, two opposite ideas need to be analysed in the given context. Be it a graduate’s dilemma to choose between a high paying job and an opportunity that ensures steep learning curve, or a brand manager’s compulsion to focus on short-term profits rather than long-term brand building, these are few real life situations where both the options have their own pros and cons. In such scenarios, it’s not about elimination. It’s about selection. It’s about ‘constructive destruction’.

Fitzgerald’s observation also ignores people with high emotional quotient. Two opposite thoughts like ‘I am a nice person’ but ‘I was compelled to do a wrong thing’ result in emotional side dominating the rational side of an individual, thereby determining subsequent action. These actions can’t be benchmarked to judge the ‘intelligence’ of any individual.

Conclusion –

Fitzgerald’s observation needs to be analysed through three lenses – Context in which the observation was made, rational and emotional quotient of an individual, the process of elimination vs selection. Having done that, I believe that the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function can’t be a testimony to an individual’s intelligence.

Monday, September 14, 2009

The 4 E's of Digital Marketing

While going through a power point presentation, I came across a very interesting perspective on Digital Marketing. By virtue of being a two-way medium and the advent of Web 2.0, the way we approach traditional marketing doesn't find place in the realm of digital consumer engagement process. It is important to see Philip Kotler's 4P's of marketing through the digital lens and see whether they pass through the digital filter.

The 4P's need to be replaced by 4E's in the basic digital marketing framework.

Product vs Experience: Unfortunately, digital is often used as a lead generating medium without any focus on brand building. Digital, if used judiciously, can be used to create an unforgettable brand experience that entices and encourages the consumers to not just consume the product but develop a long lasting relationship with the brand. A delightful brand experience can convince a consumer about the role of the brand in its life.

Price vs Exchange: The internet works on the basic principles of 'community living'. You share, I share. Its similar to the age-old barter system. You can't put a price to the content. Its available abundantly. More you share, more you would move up in the social hierarchy in the digital space.

Place vs Everywhere: Once your content/communication is out, it's everywhere. You don't select the touchpoints, the commmunity does it for you.

Promotion vs Evangalism: That's a dream of every marketing professional. You don't promote a brand on the digital space, you search for the brand champions.

Monday, June 8, 2009

ZooZoo-ism is the new religion

Finally, I have decided to write about the latest sensation of the advertising world - ZooZoos (not sure about the origin of the name but I quite like it). The day I saw the first ad (click here to see all the ZooZoo ads), the planner inside me got curious to know the creative brief that the planner on the account must have given to the creative team. Whatever the brief might me, its creative manifestation has ensured that Vodafone continues to enjoy the consumers' affinity in the 'post-pug' era (click here to see the ad). ZooZoomania has taken over the imagination of the people. After a long time, I saw people waiting for an ad to come on TV .

As they say, if advertising is the religion, ZooZoo's are the God :)

Thankfully, O&M, the creators of ZooZoo, extended the thought beyond the mass media and built communities and fan groups (click here) on the social networking sites. The official fan page of ZooZoo on Facebook has more than 3lac fans. (Shahrukh Khan's fan page has around 2.5 lac fans. Click here).

The challenge, however, is to carry forward this euphoria and ride on it as far as possible. Few top of mind options-

- Advertising is nothing but creative storytelling: ZooZoo's became popular because everytime they appeared on television, they had something fresh to tell. People waited for those new 'stories'. Use digital media to tell new and innovative stories about ZooZoo's, by the ZooZoo's. Nothing stops Vodafone to tell interesting ZooZoo stories in 140 characters. That could in fact, attract people to create their own ZooZoo stories. Did I just hear ZooZoo comic?

- Offer what consumers want: People love those 'irrational noises' - the ZooZoo talk. Is there a possibility to do something around that? Can we take it on to the mobile platform? How about ZooZoo based VAS offerings?

- Come out of the television, get in to their homes (and hearts): Indian answer to the 'firang' Barbie. Believe me, its gonna be a hit.

All said and done, one thing needs to be taken care of in the long term. Hutch (and Vodafone) streched the whole 'pug' story too far. From 'pug-o-mania', it went on to become 'pug-o-phobia'. Avoid that in this case.

Waiting to see more stuff on ZooZoo. Hope the entertainment continues.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Brand Busting in One minute


Brands cannot be created overnight. It takes years to convince the consumer about the role of the brand in its life. A single-minded focus is what is required to build a brand. A brand needs to identify an emotional truth about the consumer that it can associate itself with. This emotional truth or emotionale helps the brand to connect with its target consumer. If the consumer experiences that connect then the journey towards advocacy begins and ultimately that consumer becomes the brand champion.

However, if the brand doesn't do justice with its loyal consumers in terms of their expectations then the consumers never forgive the brand.

Recently, I had a very disappointing experience at McDonald's. I went to McDonald's Mumbai Central outlet (station premise) and ordered potato wedges. That day McDonald's was running a promotional scheme under which they promised that if they failed to deliver the order in one minute, they would give away a coke free. Great!

But to my disappointment, just to ensure that they don't cross the one-minute benchmark under any circumstances, they were serving cold, stale stuff which was already kept ready.

My reaction - A big thumbs down!

How can they serve someone cold potato wedges/french fries?

- Never forget the fundamentals: Quick service is not the necessity but quality food is. McDonalds can offer a quick service but not at the cost of the quality. Consumers go to McDonalds to have a quick bite, not to have food that is prepared in 'quick time'. Quick service is just an add-on.

- Don't chew more than what you can: Dont make promises if you are not equipped to fulfill them. Either you install more equipments or get more employees to keep your words. If you can't, then don't make unrealistic promises.

- Understand your consumer: Understand what's important to your consumer. Any promotion or offering should be properly analysed and then only be implemented. It doesnt make any difference to consumers' life if it gets its order delivered in one minute or one and half minute.

It takes years to build a brand but just a minute to bust it.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Me-too Blogs!

Having watched a lot of me-too ads, me-too brands and me-too products over the years, I wasn't surprised when I saw a 'me-too' blog. Following the stupendous success of the Fake IPL player's blog (click here to see), another blog called 't20worldcupmole.blogspot.com' (click here to see) has come into the limelight. The author claims to be a part of one of the teams participating in the T20 World Cup.

My initial reaction - hmmm...let's wait and watch.

The initial response to the blog is nowhere comparable to the FIP blog. This blog only has 2 followers and hardly around 100 comments. But passing any judgement at this point of time about the popularity/following of this blog would be too premature. Once the World Cup begins, then only we would get a clear picture.

Few random thoughts on 'Me-too' stuff -

- 'Differentiate or Die' Or 'Diferentiate & Die': Its all about cracking that 'insight' basis which a branding idea is developed. The insight/branding idea for two different brands may be silmilar, the execution needs to be different and obviously better (Sorry, Mr. Jack Trout). Differentiating your brand just because your competitors' have already postioned themselves in a certain way is definitely debatable. Two different brands can own the same idea and still execute them in a completely different way. Two brands can still survive without infringing into each other's territory.

- Trust your consumer : You don't need to get defensive in case their are any similarities between the two ideas. Recently, Ad-pundits have pointed out lot of similarities between the latest Loop mobile campaign and the Vodafone (then Hutch) campaign. So What?? How does it make a difference. Leave it to the consumers to decide. If the consumers find a better emotional connect in the recent campaign compare to the earlier one, they will accept it otherwise it would be forgotten just like most of the other campaigns.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Take it lightly!



A very simple yet effective WEBSITE created by Ogilvyone India for the brand Cadbury's Perk. Click here to see.

P.S: Don't miss the loader

Thursday, May 21, 2009

World's smallest 'learn-by-earning' University

Yes..you read it write. Sumit Roy (my Account Planning teacher at MICA) runs world's smallest learn-by-earning university called Univbrands. Check out his website here. Read an article on 'Aha' trees - A tool devised by Sumit for doing brand research and generate consumer insights. Click here to read the article.