I have to admit, rather shamefacedly, that the Uniqlo brand name has never registered with me despite the fact that I have travelled abroad in the past few years and even though Novak Djokovic wears its shirts and shorts. Uniqlo really entered my cerebrum only after I read the cover story of Time magazine – […]
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– By Allen P. Adamson As marketers, we are exposed to so many theories and ideas that it can all get pretty confusing. Many marketing gurus – including Al Ries and Jack Trout – have been arguing that branding is not as complex and complicated as many experts make it out to be; actually it […]
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– By Atul Gawande Seriously, how many of us make checklists? How many of us even consider it necessary? Well, if you really want to know how critical checklists are in today’s increasingly complex world, you MUST read ‘The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right’ by Dr. Atul Gawande. Dr. Atul Gawande is an […]
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– By John Davis Non-marketing people in many organisations look down upon the ‘marketing types’ primarily because they never get to understand what all the marketing spends have finally achieved for the company. Marketers are viewed as people focussed on developing ‘brand strength’ and ‘brand image’ based on advertising spends. Many marketers have not helped […]
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– By Jim Collins Good to Great was a monster best seller when it was released in 2001. It still retains its popularity and I am sure that many members of BlueBarn would have read the book. Collins’ exhaustive research for the book was initiated to find out how some companies transition from being ‘good’ […]
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– By Al Ries and Jack Trout Positioning was published in 1981 and thirty-two years is a long time for any book to become outdated, possibly obsolete. Yet, I would strongly recommend every young marketer to read the book, mainly because the concept of positioning is still very much in practice and it is important […]
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Theodore Levitt’s impact on Marketing is immense. He was a professor at Harvard Business School for 30 years and started teaching marketing at a time when he had never previously read a book on the subject. He was also editor of the Harvard Business Review and changed it from being a boring, academic magazine into […]
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It is Steve Jobs who said that the definition of a superbly designed product is one that you would WANT TO LICK! They are that attractive! And it is the ‘lickable’ brands that stand apart – Apple in computers, tablets and MP3 players and telephones, BMW in cars, Nike in shoes, Starbucks in cafes, Sony […]
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I believe that the main branding on the players’ shirts (across the chest) for a team in IPL costs a company a whopping Rs.200 million. The secondary branding (the smaller brand logos) costs around Rs.50 million. Is it worth it? I feel that the primary brand is generally recalled for some of the teams (I […]
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Just read the Economic Times story – Slym Adds Muscle to Tata Motors Revival – on the current woes of Tata Motors. The story identified the following problems that beset Tata Motors: 1. Fierce competition leading to declining market shares in both passenger cars and trucks. 2. BVR Subbu, an industry veteran, felt that ‘Tata […]
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