I am not a beer drinker – I don’t particularly like it and prefer wine or scotch whenever I am in the mood. But many of my friends are habitual beer drinkers and can down quite a few pints during an afternoon or evening. While many of them are not regular Corona drinkers, they do […]
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Many business and marketing gurus have been predicting the failure of Apple for a number of years. Here, I am going to cover what two very well-respected gurus – both of whom I admire – said or have been saying about Apple. And the two are Al Ries and Clayton Christensen. In an article in […]
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The Beatles – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – are the most successful, enduring and critically acclaimed band the world of popular music has ever seen. Till date, they have sold over one billion records; amazingly, their records still sell very well, forty four years after they disbanded. ‘According to the […]
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I don’t think that I need to tell people about the advantages of strong brands – the benefits are immense. Yet, due to various factors, many of them associated with long term mismanagement, some brands do become stale and weak. Yet, unless the markets in which they operate have lost its relevance, brands can be […]
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In their excellent book – The Discipline of Market Leaders (a book you MUST read) – Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema presented three value disciplines that companies should follow. They argued that while companies should be good in all the three value disciplines, they should be OUTSTANDING in one of them. That is, they must […]
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We just love our brands! And we continue using them because, obviously, they offer the value we are looking for in exchange for the money we part with. All good brands have a strong equity and have memorable slogans. But make no mistake – even the best brands have their weak points, their Achilles’ Heel, […]
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Till the turn of the century, Sony seemed invincible. Ever since the launch of the Trinitron, it had been synonymous with quality and innovation (remember those Walkman days?). Even today, it is a huge group, the fifth largest media conglomerate with revenues of around USD 78 billion. Sadly, revenues are declining – electronics sales (minus […]
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Most companies feel that they should not boast about the achievements of their organisation or brand. “It is so wrong to show-off, to talk big,” goes the refrain. Dead wrong! If you have a reason to boast, do it shamelessly – it could just make a huge, huge difference to your long term success. So […]
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On the Facebook page of Bluebarn, a member – Nadeem Khan – had asked me to write on why the Grateful Dead retained their popularity over three decades (till their talisman, Jerry Garcia, died in 1995) and beyond. I am a rock aficionado and while Grateful Dead are not in my top 10 (and many […]
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I was just reading the above titled article in the Economist dated April 12, 2014. The article argues that reviving old brands sometimes makes more sense than creating new ones. I have fond memories of brands like J. B. Mangaram (biscuits), Binaca (toothpaste), Moti (soap – ‘the best soap in India’, my dad told me […]
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