Keep it Real to get the feel

They say “Don’t judge a book by its cover” and I am on an eternal mission to find out who this elusive “they” were and ensure that these “they” get a standing ovation. When this mission is accomplished, my second mission would be to ensure that all my teachers, professors and few elite members of my family get to read and understand this quote! Well this second mission of mine goes way back in time which is filled with sarcastic comments, punishments and consistent reprimands for my rebellious dressing sense. And it is not like I didn’t protest; I was like Gandhiji who fought against the British rule with a loin cloth against the khaki tyranny. But then I had very little success in this fight because unlike the “Father of the Nation” who had the support of the whole nation, I lacked support from my own father!!!
The above paragraph proves my non affability towards the conventional mediums of dressing, much popularly tagged as formals. But my line of studies demanded such attire and I could be rebellious for just a certain period. I mean, being rebellious is cool, but a red one fit cap on my formals doesn’t say rebellious as much as it says lack of dressing sense! So I began the hunt, the hunt to find that line of work that lets you be and then I landed on a goldmine called creative communication. Popularly tagged as the media line, it offers a perfect dress code for people like me, which in short means that they have no dress code! From casuals to the Indiana Jones attire, everything is passed of as normal without those life changing stares and glares. And for someone like me for whom what I wear reflects what I feel, it’s a boon granted by the lords above.
Now due to my incessant rambling, the few people reading this blog shouldn’t misinterpret the agenda of this article. The idea is not to convey that since the creative communication field has a liberal dress code it’s an ultimate choice for anyone or everyone. The agenda is to convey that creativity can be derived more successfully by allowing a certain amount of freedom helping to unleash the creative minds. After all many bosses in the creative communication line believe that the right mood and the right feel will provide the right content. But again this fact shouldn’t be misconstrued as a feeling that the right attire gives the right thoughts. I mean, camouflage shorts don’t enhance your thinking power they just enhance your ability to beat the heat and give you one less point to worry about. In short, no amount of cool, rebellious or hip dressing sense can provide you with creative thoughts. Also even in this field with all its freedom and liberty, some unsaid guidelines are to be followed. While meeting clients or people whom you are interacting for the first time a decent dress code is in demand. This means that cargo shorts and “Che Guevara” t-shirts might not tell the client about your free and liberal state of mind but will most probably tell them that you are not the right person to talk to and you shall get skipped.
Now speaking about myself, I have always loved the liberty of having a dressing sense which says “I don’t care”. There are enough pros and cons of it with which I have made my peace, but that might not hold true for everyone. The belief is that if your college or work allows you to wear what you like then please wear what you like and not what others would like. At the end of the day what holds true is the fact that “Keep it real to get the feel”…

Bhopal Gas Tragedy

A small town with picturesque settings…a land of joy, a land of beauty & a land full of happy lives. Then one day tragedy strikes, a disaster where thousands perish, the beauty & the lives all disappear into the abyss of greed, deceit and power!!! A tragedy forever embedded in the sands of time as the disastrous Bhopal Gas Tragedy that not only took the lives of thousands but also took the belief of thousands from the Indian judicial system for good. How I wish this was a script of a Bollywood blockbuster, but to my grief and that of the entire nation’s this isn’t. At least if it would have been a movie script, after all the carnage and the loss we would have got a fitting retribution when the evil meets its disastrous and deserving end.
Our entire lives we learn, teach or preach the importance of responsibility but it is bizarre that the while so many people lost their lives due to negligence by a few, we are unable to bring to justice those few who were responsible. In a country boasting to be the largest democracy of the world and a government proudly tagged as “for the people, of the people and by the people”, the people are neglected by choice or by chance. What occurred in Bhopal on the fatefull December night of 1984 is merely a prelude to what the city has faced till date. If after 16 years after the incident, our comfortable living rooms do not comfort us while we follow the trial of justice for the Bhopal victims on news channels, imagine the life of a survivor who didn’t even have the chance to see it coming but has endured it till date to know that his torture and misery has been negotiated for a paltry reimbursement.
The idea is not to raise fingers or take sides because in a nation where innumerable factions thriving on controversies we would become an inconsequential addition to the bandwagon. In case of what happened in Bhopal, the who’s, the why’s and the how’s are quite evident to us but they have been for the last 16 years being immaculately shielded by the if’s and the but’s. By nature, past history and by experience the powers deciding the fates of those who suffered have understood that they are dealing with a mass of people who will shout, protest and will soon compromise with the rest. The truth is that, we are tied down by our personal quests to find time to fight such battles and tend to leave it saying life moves on.
As said, life does move on and the Bhopal of today is the best example of  that saying. A city struck with a disaster of biblical proportions has slowly but steadily gotten back into its groove and made itself noticed to the entire nation. From scenic landscapes to formidable infrastructure, Bhopal has carved itself a spot in the India’s books of culture tradition and innovation. The city boasts not only about being a platform for traditional arts and culture but also about the numerous prestigious educational institutes it sports. This justifies its will to grow but does it justify its will to let go?
No true Indian how occupied or busy he is, can ever let go of what happened in Bhopal in the winters of 1984 and all that the city and its people demand, is closure. My grandmother always said that “an innocent person’s curse has to be feared the most” and for once I hope she is right, because where the justice has failed, lets hope that the curses prevail!!!

Keep up with the time, or be left behind !!

It has been drilled in our heads from the very start of our academic journey that “man is a social animal” and by the word “man” we mean human beings in general. One of the main attributes of being social is our ability to communicate with others of our kind for personal and commercial purposes. Peeking back into time, it has to be accepted that communication has existed since the advent of mankind, from the stone ages, even if the then popular communication technique was to make garbled noises and throw a pebble at the other individual to grab his/her attention. Since the concept of trade also existed back then maybe in form of barter system, communication must have played a pivotal role in making the transfer. Hence the question, with such a long history of communication do we assume that in today’s age most of us are experts at it?
We won’t require a super computer to deduce the answer for this question which is a quite clean and clear “no”. As the ages moved in their classification of stone, bronze, ice to the refrigerator age, the techniques of communication have also evolved. Though the evolution of these techniques haven’t changed the basic philosophy of “getting the message across”, they definitely have innovated the means of doing so. The best part of the whole process is that, the techniques invented for our advancement, if not studied properly can spell our inevitable doom. Hence in the age of technology and business, communication has been given its own standing for better living and profitable business. The business of communication with the inside and outside pubic whether creative or corporate has to be necessarily learnt and mastered to some extent as a social and commercial needs.
This explains the advent of communication institutions that pride in training, honing and developing communication skills of their candidates. In addition to these, they also try to get their students familiar with the various communication techniques and its development bridging the gap of the basics and the innovations of the field. Institutions also focus on bringing out the creative and competitive best from its students to enhance their skills and their ability to face the corporate world with confidence. For a candidate to enroll & successfully complete a communication course it is necessary for them to understand that these institutions do their best to update, innovate and educate but the zest of learning and wanting to excel in the communication technique cannot be duplicated or created.
It is said that “man is a social animal” but the society has grown leaps and bounds since this saying was created and with every new leap the art of communication becomes more unique and fascinating than before. Today’s world works on the philosophy, ‘keep up with the time, or be left behind’ and it is an aspiring communication candidate’s choice to either be with the time and adapt to communicate or stick with the basics and be left behind.

The Kommunication Karma…

It is believed that what we end up doing in life is a part of a greater game plan rigged together by the forces of fate and destiny. These forces gives us choices and help us take those decisions which may seem irrelevant to many around but ultimately end up becoming the turning point of life for a better or a doomed future. Well if the same is true, then it should be mandatory that, these forces give us a statutory warning of what lies ahead, but sadly that never the case. The world is littered with examples of people who have swapped their existing careers to areas of interest and are quite well placed in life today.
Observing this phenomenon closely you will realize that in comparison to other professions, the field of communication sees a massive switch of careers or job-jumps than any other field. The basic reason behind this is the deep seated connection between the vast field of communication and its allied areas. Every communication field is in constant touch with other associated professions which gives the communication candidates get a clear and closer look at the range of choices he can experiment with. A case example would be an individual working in an Ad agency, is in a constant range of job profiles like with PR, Event Management, Filmmaking and Television production etc. In short any of these job profiles may entice him to switch to these fields as per his interests. Though it is actually not switching fields because all these professions fall under the communication wing but in such a vast field the job profiles we discussed above are as different from each other as chalk and cheese.
To a large extent the new breed of communication institutes and the syllabus they offer to their students is the actual reason why candidates feel confident to experiment with various genres in the communication field. A course in journalism gives a student an overall idea of television production and multi-camera setup opening a dimension in his mind towards the print & TV industry. Courses in Advertising and Pr offer a healthy glimpse of creative writing and film making which are coincidentally also essential tools to understanding the art of script writing and film making respectively. Communication institutes and communication courses act as central nerve of the entire media network connecting each field of communication with another and bridging gaps of ignorance.
All this speculation over swapping jobs and changing the line of work is not a mandatory procedure for everyone but usually a whim and fancy of an individual mind. A lot of us are happy doing what we do and a few of us are always in the quest of finding to do that which is destined for us. Ultimately what we do will be our fate and what we achieve will be the thing we are destined for, so the idea is to do our best and with full interest. After all, “our fates we can’t decide and from our destiny we can never hide”

The Right Time, Anytime…

They say that “time and tide wait for no man” and an Indian version of the same quote is “Waqt ke saath chalo, nahi toh peeche reh jaoge”…Both these version are true in their own right but inapplicable in some counts. A lot of teenagers moving into their post teen years feel that their time to study or educate themselves is up and they ending doing jobs under the pretext of not wanting to be left behind. The quote and the philosophy do apply to a lot of fields but in case of a career in the communication field it doesn’t hold water. A field with innumerable choices and unbelievable opportunities, communication studies has always been a trend breaker majorly because it’s the main source for trends to arise & evolve.
Age is a definitely a worrying factor for all of us but in the field of communication it acts as a benchmark to what you have achieved and your need to achieve more. Though it is advisable to stick to the basics and finish your studies when the time is right, a delay in getting onboard won’t be a hiccup for your glorious future. The courses and the syllabus offered by communication institutes cater to both the experienced and the inexperienced lot so that both are due for a fresh start in their own way. A lot of us believe to study and then get practical experience and a sizeable number of us wants a bit of experience and then enhance it by getting theoretical knowledge. Both these approaches do have their own pros and cons, but in no way are they wrong or undoable. What matters is, your situations and your decisions which will ultimate form your truth, and that is the only truth. Also what a degree in communication or for that matter in any field does is, it gives you a decent standing and an appreciative value considering that you have degree from a reputed institute claiming your mastery over certain topics.
We Indians have always had a soft corner and huge regards or the intellectual types and the fascination will last forever. It is also necessary to understand that while studies are a part of our life if used on field they can make our life much better. After all there is a reason why our degrees and academic laureates occupy an important position in our job resumes. So ideally it is never too late to learn and evolve and if the education doesn’t help you much, the initial of the degree will, to some extent. A lot of us take specializations and educations for granted but in the communication field, a lot can be learned in a class and then expertly applied on the field. So the question of, “Whether to study or not?” can be answered with another question, “Will studies ever harm you?” We are all intelligent enough to know the answer and for those who think that their age to learn has passed them by, all the need to remember is, “It’s not the age but the mileage”…

The Media Watchdog… A toothless tragedy !!!

My journalism professors used always say with a lot of pride that “media acts as the watchdog of the society, an impartial and unbiased tool which is fair and just, in short a medium that believes in the portrayal of truth at whatever cost necessary”.
Obviously he didn’t stop there, but went on to quote examples and case studies from the pre independence era to the day before, till his stipulated time ran out. Back then sitting in the last row, I used to sneer, laugh & at times doze off during these speeches. But today I think if I were to give the same speech, my so called students would have much stronger reactions than what I had. A rotten egg, a paper plane or a class boycott is some thing that I expect the least.
According to many of us, the responsible media that people talk about in classes has long been buried to make way for the commercial media. Few of us today believe that a news channel or newspaper upholds its original status among the common man. Most of us though, do believe that these channels are a much better advertising medium than anything close to the truth.
Here is my dilemma, “On which side am I?” Sincerely speaking, I do believe news publications and media network still hold a lot of credibility among the masses but a part of me also feels that if it gets too hard for these guys to get credible & interesting news, the launch of a new lingerie wear may soon make their headlines. All in all it’s a game of trying to outsmart the other by being fast, saying more & acting superior at times.
All this said, a fresh batch of students keep flowing out of communication institutes to join the media bandwagon. Directly or indirectly, 90% of the students will get in touch with the news and broadcasting part of the media at some point of time. So there is hope, hope that maybe not all but a selected few of the new lot have what it takes to keep the sanctity of the journalism industry alive. For many it is the beacon of truth, for many a time pass, for many a source of income but for the common man it is a right…right to know the truth…unbiased & unadulterated. Maybe if a small part working for this medium keeps the common man and not the commercial man in mind, we could see the era of journalism where breaking news won’t talk about “the cat fight between two TV vamps in real life”.
In defense of the news mediums, it is true that they have brought about a huge amount of change & are still highlighting things that are to be told. But do they need to add their own twist to the tale & pre determine the news is the big question.  Like me, many others would feel the same and we do our bit of scanning & searching for our bits of serious & related news. But in the long run, the question that will haunt us is, “who will watch the watchdog when is turn rabid?”

Plan To Not Plan…

The late & great Sir Winston Churchill had once quoted, “He who fails to plan is planning to fail”. Quite an impressive quote, especially when it’s quoted by one of the greatest wartime leaders. But even uncle Winston would agree that he never intended the Second World War to take place, it just happened and all the planning came into play. Moral of the story, we can plan all we want but don’t bank on things to run according to plan. This philosophy majorly finds its application in the field of communication where plans can go for a toss with every little change in the influencing environment…the so called “variable factor”
The variable factor is that inconsistent element surrounding us which can act as major catalyst for big disasters. For Example, a particular brand invests lakhs for a nationwide AD campaign with a big Bollywood celebrity but a day before the Ads hit your TV screens, the celebrity gets involved in a murky scandal making himself & the brand untouchable (in a bad way). In short, the variable factor is the one thing on which we have limited or zero control. Also a point worth getting aware is the fact that, though we may have no control over the elements, we shall be invariably held responsible for the associated disasters. In a true Mumbaiya style it would result in a situation best described as, “Khaya Piya Kuch Nahi, Glass Toda Baarana”. So what can be done in such situations where the variable factor screws up your all plans?
Now being a bit experienced in such situations and escaping its dangerous outcomes in more than a couple of occasions, my first suggestion would be RUN!!! The second suggestion to follow the first one is, GRAB ALL THE PLANS THAT SHOW YOUR INVLOVLMENT & THEN…RUN!!!!! But a much practical solution to these issues especially for those in the communication field is to try & expect the variable factor in advance. This means, be prepared for such things to happen & keep your plans a bit flexible so that you can adapt accordingly. Also an important point to remember is to be in tune with the environment, because if you are smart enough you will get the signals much earlier than the event itself. For example, tracking a celebrity’s history, his filmography & his publicity stunts would help you realize how unpredictable he can be. But in case you have ignored the signals and are now in midst of a major crisis, it better to come up with an immediate PR attempt, for both yourself & for your brand. It has to be unplanned and spontaneous because planning in such tight situations may lead to a recap of what happened before. Though my last advice may seem extremely impractical, it will help you in dealing with the issue if you can say “It’s all good” and try to move on.
In the Oscar winning movie, Forrest Gump, Forrest’s mother tells him that, “Life Is like a Box of Chocolates… You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get”. Well let’s hope that we don’t end up getting a bitter chocolate & even if we do there is nothing more we can do other than swallowing it with a smile on our face. So plan well, but don’t waste all your time planning because even the great John Lennon believed that, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”…

commUNIQUEcation !!

When situations ceases to provide a solution, only one thing can come to your aid…Nah, not the prayers (that does help but not on a practical level)…What i had in mind rhymed with “Internet!!!”…I think after the invention of the wheel, mankind’s next best discovery is definitely WWW, the world wide web…If Optimus Prime (not the Prime Minister  but the leader of Autobots in the movie Transformers) can use it to learn about the earthly languages and he was an alien ,then why not us??
No wonder today every project that a student gets, he uses his fingers and the keyboard combo, for a desperate search of another soul who has been in the same situation and has uploaded the concerned project…That is something I would suggest you don’t do, as firstly it ain’t fair and secondly there is a big possibility that you might be stealing a project of a total loser. But then imagine the resource that lays ahead of you to read, compile and comprehend. Patience is the key and concentration is the lock, if you have the patience to find & read through the data & the concentration to stick to your work instead of doing the shady business, get it in writing boss (well it’s kinda already in writing) that you will be set…
During my studies, I realised what a gold mine I had landed on. Armed with the world wide web I was ready for my professors. It was game on…But just one advice, don’t rely on the first site that comes up in the search engine because apparently your professors also surf the net ( awwwwww,what a hearing I got, classic!!!). Avoiding the lecture on how you can use the Internet, lets jump to the interesting parts…Blogs! Now this is a miracle, most of the problems you have, some other poor soul has also encountered the same and he will list down the solutions for you…Dhan tana, again you are set boss!! The net also gives you resources with audio-visual demonstration something which textbooks rarely do, depending on what you reading..ain, naughty naughty!!!
Today JCIM boasts of wi-fi connectivity in their college  and they should rightly do so (Spoiler- Popular networking sites may be blocked)… Nobody wants to distance you from accessing the information bank but the question still remains the same, you can take the horse to the water but definitely can’t force it to wear a bathing suit…just kidding!!! But on a serious note, studying communication would be much simpler with a device that lets you communicate with people & thoughts around the globe that to on a lowest ISD rates everrrrr..After all, we don’t want to land in situations where we have to stare and appreciate at the ceiling , when people around are talking about something you were supposed to be in tune with..
Being extremely positive,it would be nice if the brilliant minds reading this blog would let others know what’s cooking in their ROM (means what do you think) so that we get more brains (including my average one) on the same page, … So, till then, on the risk of being repetitive I would once again say, “When life comes to a halt, don’t fume and fret…Get set, log on to the Internet!!” …Boss!

To communicate is human… To reciprocate is divine!!

“With a vision to develop communication experts who will occupy commanding positions in communication policy, strategy and action, JICM, Bhopal aspires to not just teach, but also to mould and create communication aspirants. JICM wishes to see every aspirant as a thinker, a motivator for change. This aspiration meets the demand of our times, that is, to carve out unusual solutions for communication problems”
Damn that’s elaborate!!! This text appears on the right hand of the screen when you enter the url, http://www.jicm.edu.in which incidentally the site for JICM (Jagran Institute of Communication and Management) and as the name implies, this vision is for all the wannabe future communication managers out there. Hmmm, Nice thought, Nice Vision but let’s simplify it a bit, alienating it from its purpose of attracting admissions.
The ideology of communication is supposed to be an exquisite art for few, a tool to connect many but more importantly it’s a reason for survival for all. Imagine Mr Graham Bell’s situation if he had invented the telephone but had nothing to say for the person on the other end (instead of hanging up, he would have hanged himself). I guess that it’s needless to talk about the importance of communication but very necessary to explain the important of effective communication.
We all know that communication is the process of transferring information from one entity to another (yeh main nahi kahta, wikipedia kehta hai). Effective communication is just going the extra mile to ensure that the information transferred to the individual/living organism/object (entity sounds damn spooky man!!) is done in the right way. This process is called attaining a feedback and unless you are communicating with a brick wall be sure you will have some kind of feedback. From local to global, corporate to personal and in every other dimension feedback is guaranteed. But then its upto us if we have the patience or more importantly the brains to identify and understand the feedback. A kiss will ensure a slap & a slap will be retorted with a punch, and its upto the slap receiver to ensure that he understands that the feedback is negative (or else God save him)
We teach, learn and evolve, but do we understand??? The importance of understanding situations, tones, moods and responses is what makes an effective learner. They say “the less said is better”, I respectfully disagree… The less is better when you have an audience that understands that what is said in what context. Nonetheless I do think all our politicians should use the “less said” formula as they are too boring for someone to actually digest (post the legendary bhaiyon and behanon, that is!!)
We have always assumed that the best in the business can teach you about the best of everything but then the best can only do his best and we are responsible for the rest. So the JICM vision, though elaborate yet focused, its more important that what the reader reads and interprets to be in lines with the vision of the institute. After all I can show you the moon but cant help if you are hell bent on observing the dirt on my nail of the finger pointing towards the moon.

Innovate To Communicate – Post Grad course in Communication

We live in the age of communication or so it’s said.. Cell phones, internet, one on one and more to come, all mediums for one purpose… To communicate.
We have all the mechanisms, yet till date in the 21st century the effective art of communication eludes us.. Courses of communication from various grad schools teach wannabe communication experts, the traits and the techniques to master this art… Communication has gone mainstream today and it’s uses are legendary… Advertising, Pr, hr and dealing with an extensive consumer base.. Taking the company’s thought to everyone concerned, be it inside the organization or the world outside it’s a dicey game!! Saying the right thing at the right time is what these courses will teach you.
Effective communication courses deal with not only the role of communication but also the choice of medium. The consumer base today is becoming more aware and more educated and so getting a message through becomes harder. But then it’s not impossible and someone somewhere makes an extremely lucrative living out of it. So for those who aspire to become future communication wizards not a many institutions specialize in teaching communication but there are colleges like JICM Bhopal (Jagran Institute of Communication & Management) which have taken the initiative.
The only question is, what are you waiting for?

The Business of Advertising !

Let’s have a pop quiz, shall we??… With 5 seconds on the clock, name any 5 products that you can think of at the count of 3…1 2 3 go!! Well what were your top 5? Car, bike, watch, perfume, washing powder, electronics, what?  Well whatever it is, be sure that someone out there is extremely happy that he has entered your mindshare by consistently bombarding you with audio, visual and most of the times with audio-visual content so that the image of your favorite celebrity’s pearly whites is registered in your subconscious mind which proves really helpful, when you are in need to buy some a toothpaste.
Creativity in the ad business is already over hyped and much talked about so I wouldn’t want a learner like me commenting against the great guns in the business. But I do believe that though creativity is to an extent inborn and more of wit, in the advertising business, creativity has to be aptly supported by immaculate communications techniques. The musical jingles, the crazy ideas and the spoofy bits that catch the consumer’s attention are all outcome of meticulous planning and execution. Today courses of advertising and marketing have grown in leaps and bounds teaching the young and the enterprising to navigate the reins of the consumer’s mind.
Getting a message across to the consumer, involves a tedious process starting with a pitch ending with the final copy of the ad rolling out for the consumers. Colleges’ today focus on providing practical knowledge in various facets of advertising for their students, the reason being that the young guns can realize early where their forte lies. Remember not everyone is creative but creativity can’t alone make an advertisement. A thought will only be appreciated if it’s put down by in the right language, conveyed by the right medium to the right audience.
A 30 second television commercial, takes 30 days of planning before a 3 day shoot and previous to that its takes 30 days of pitching, previous to which there are at least 20 days of briefing and going back a bit, it all starts when a company realizes that they need a new advertising campaign to promote their product and they call you for a pitch…
Put in one small line, “it takes at least 100 days, for a 30 sec TVC to materialize on television” and still, nobody can guarantee that the product will sell. So guessing the odds, it would be safe to say the learning to think how your consumer will think is better than going ahead a gut feeling of the consumer mindshare. After all, YEHI HAI RIGHT CHOICE….HAAN KI NAA???

Papa Kehte Hai Vs Dil Chahta Hai

Sometimes on the roads of life and in the car of living, we usually end up finding someone else on our driver’s seat, taking us on a smooth ride (or so they assume) towards our future. It’s usually our dear folks, our parents, our mummies & daddies who know the best for us and most of the times they are bang on accurate. I might sound a bit blasphemous for saying the unsaid but this fact is kind of a rude awakening from our dreams, “our parents are not always right”. They might be much more accurate than most of the things in the world but when it comes to a choice of your future, you would definitely want a second opinion, that of yours…
Well my parents always had an opinion and they were never shy to share/sugesst/yell and rare cases slap it to me. The point was, somewhere down the line I decide to be a rebel without a cause (like those political parties shouting “humari mange poori karo’”). Being so till the time I found something interesting to do with my life, something that bugged everyone was termed as a total disaster but in the end my folks did stand by me with my decision (though I still think it was to see me fail miserably and the say the classic “we told you so” but then that never happened). But the mistake of choosing their future for you isn’t theirs (if you want to call it a mistake don’t do it in front of them), as it’s all done with a touch of good faith and loads of expectations for the great one (you!!).
The bigger fight has always been the conventional against the crazy. Just to be clear, everything that your parents didn’t think of is crazy!!! Folks want an MBA, you want to be a rock star. Well in such cases I completely support the elderly brains, not because I hate rock stars…it’s just that a MBA degree will help immensely if the band-baaja doesn’t work. So study to get the degree and then rock on man! In such arguments it’s necessary to remember that any kind of degree will not determine your future but just safeguard it. A lot of graduates don’t end up becoming accountants or managers but the degree in their backpack helps them in their new direction, knowing that they won’t ever go out of a job if what they wanted to be didn’t work out as they planned.
Also don’t rush or panic when you are suggested to go for undergrad courses which might be a bit off your field of interest because management/ science/ commerce /anything else these courses teach you the basics and you might just have some fun learning them and then there are a lot of additional extra curricular activities which might appeal to the most of you. A lot of young minds who actually don’t know what they want to end up being and that lead to a lot of trauma. As a victim of this syndrome I would just say, keep you minds open, try not to follow what others say just because they said it and you never thought of it so its seems like a good idea…Answer for your future lies within you and you just need a flash of genius to understand what’s path your are supposed to tread on. All I would like to add is whenever the thought comes to you don’t judge it’s as something that’s written on stone just for you, instead try to find more about it so that it seems sensible to be ready to convince the world about it.
But then for all those whose are lost like once I was, find below 3 tips that helped me counter attack my father, it might help or for that matter might just help you get your folks more confused than you…

1. Be cool – Assuming your parents have chosen the career of your…eh mmmmm…their dreams for you. Be cool and don’t say a downright no, that would make tempers take off, so play its cool, say that you will think about it. Now rush to your room if you have a comp or to the nearest cybercafé, learn all about the path of glory chosen for you, find all the loopholes for a good debate, have an ace up your sleeve (e.g. I don’t want to be come a doctor because I can stand the sight of blood and nobody wants a doctor who faints every 2nd patient he attends). Keep your defense ready and then be prepared of an alternative or something for more time think (just don’t end you appeal by saying “main hero ban na chahta hoon”)
2. Act stupid- Dad says “I want you to study engineering”…you go “huh”…dad says “engineering”…you go “huh”…Do that till you get a slap or you are sent to your room and in the second session just say “engineering is good but I don’t think I have the aptitude for it”..Most probably he will end the conversation saying “I don’t think you have the aptitude plus the intelligence for it”
3. Be prepared-Finally if you have chosen a path for yourself, be prepared in the subject. Before you have the talk about your future with your parents, study as much as you can about the career you want to end up with. The pay scale, the big pros, the placement opportunities, more like a 50 years plan of your future for them to have a goodnight sleep. Now again you have to be careful that you don’t make any of this up because be sure they are going to double check and if something doesn’t fall into place, be ready to get bambooed!!

Dairy of a failed intern… A successful professional!

For everyone pursuing their studies, the next few months will be a period filled with stress and anxiety because it’s that time of the year…nah, am not talking about the Ipl…well actually if IPL stood for ‘Internship Pe Lagiye’ then you are bang on!!! Colleges pride on sending out their star performers to organisations of great repute with such zest as if they have just selected the winning squad for the T20 world cup.
Campus internships are supposedly organised to give the present a glimpse of the future, or the future they intend to choose. The age old connotation of internship stands for doing menial jobs like getting coffee, xerox copies, stationary and sometimes even getting the boss’s lunch from his house (that was a life changing experience!!). Post the entire trauma and assumptions that an intern is burdened with before joining; comes the truth of life…any experience is good experience assuming we have an appetite to learn!!!
Someone who has had a horrid time serving coffees or making copies would want to give me a piece of his mind for saying that it’s a good experience. But understand this brother, if you did it once you won’t be doing it again, unless you are extremely useless, make very good coffee or if you are a graduate with a diploma in coffee making… just kidding! The policy of life is simple brother… crawl, walk, run, do so with a passion & soon you will be zooming comfortably in a swashbuckling convertible.
In my days of learning, I was legend of internships… three different internships, three different jobs I have learnt three rules of a successful internship, none of which I actually followed so it would be safe to say I learnt them the hard way and wish that I could’ve been more sensible.
1. Serve with a Smile…
Ever seen the water purifier commercials? The salesmen in these commercials have these wide grins, see it…learn it and try it… it works!!! Nobody likes to have a grumpy person around them especially when that’s not the most important person in office. Not suggesting that you be the office clown but just that you need to be pleasant & avoid an expression that makes you appear like a terrorist plotting to plant huge bomb in the office (that’s what they thought about me!!)…A smile makes people take notice of you and gives the perception that you are a bright energetic person. Also its makes your superiors take your case a slightly lesser, unless you have a sadist for a boss…then you’re in some trouble, so lose the smile & bring in the blank expression in. Situations at work tend to give you moments of disgust/heartbreak/angst and a frown comes on as quickly as flies on honey!… in such situations try not take it out on the very little work you have, doesn’t seem professional, does it? Also if you end up becoming the centre of the office jokes, try to smile rather than get agitated, after all he who can laugh on himself can laugh on the whole world!
2. Never Say No…
It is essential to let go any minute the enormous ego that you might carry around with you when you enter an office. From making copies to making a presentation always be prepared to do everything you are asked to. Any employee who will do his work efficiently no matter however small it is, will always be thought of as someone who can be trusted. ‘Trust is Must’ and to gain it you need to be ready to slog, for the one who endures is the one who matures. Most of the organisation employing interns think that they are doing the young minds a big favour and also assume that they own you… well they are kinda right and even if not, you are in no position to grumble! Do so, but in your little space with your set of friends, or best in a loo with the doors locked and the exhaust on!!
3. Observe & Absorb But Don’t Expect…
Observation is the key to understanding, and if you can observe with eye for finer details you will learn more in a month than others who are more like a permanent fixture there. The idea is to absorb but not expect, don’t expect to be called for important meetings but try to absorb the ramifications of the meeting by talking to people who were present at the meeting. Some of us will get to do some actual groundbreaking work while others might just spend their time doing basically stupid jobs. Sometimes doing nothing can actually be translated be doing a lot by ways of understanding the nature of work you will be expected to do in the future. Try to understand the workings of a firm, the client dealings, the office politics, the various job profiles and job descriptions and more importantly the flow of work so you understand who reports to whom ,who does what and then set your target of where you can see yourself when you start your actual job.. In my first internship I understood the importance of knowing who calls the shots in the office by cribbing about my job profile (i was the copy machine guy!!!) directly to my boss…well in my defense, he didn’t look like the boss!!!
Like in life, with internships we need to have as little impositions and conditions as possible. They say an open mind, has solutions to problems that you never thought existed. Working at a place think that you need to impress the people to become a permanent there – this approach which will only minimize your horizon. Take it more like an experience because if you like it and you think you will be good at it, many companies will approach you. My three attempts made me realize that the last attempt was the correct attempt, and that is what I should be doing. So for all you intelligent & to be interns, my advice would be, “Whatever you do, do your best & do it with a smile”….

Age No bar, if you want to sell Lagatar!!

A couple of days back, I overheard the lady next door (who by the way sounds like a cow) dishing out an extremely generous and angry piece of her mind to the local provisional stores guy for a wrong delivery which obviously happened by mistake. And for the sake of humanity i thought either that guy should have been deaf or the lady should have been dumb. But post sticking my ear to the door for a good 15 minutes, i had an epiphany, a so called divine intervention. I realized that aunties like the one next door or for that matter my mom, would rarely fall for the expertly drafted ‘communication messages’ sent out by the corporate departmental stores of the likes of Big Bazaars or the D-Marts setup to meet all our needs.
No doubt these ladies would not miss an opportunity to shop owing to the extravagant and the exhaustive range of products offered at such places but that would be with same appeal & zest that we would have when we go for lunch in a 5-star restaurant knowing that such occasions are a one of, so bring it on!! The Big Bazaars and D-Marts of the world and all those planning to take the FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) sector to a corporate level would need a lot more than slashing their prices and creative slogans to make the traditional Indian housewives their daily consumers which would actually be extremely profitable.
A business wave in the late 90′s made us aware of the concept of globalization – the Coke & Pepsi’s, pizzas & burgers, the multiplexes & malls etc. Post that, every time i walked into my neighboring salon for a haircut, the uncle reminded me that he ain’t a ‘hajam’ but a ‘hairdresser’. With my neck and hair on the line, i did meekly agree with him, after all nobody disagrees with the man who has a blade and your neck to experiment!!! But what i did realize is that the trends and lingos change but the efficiency of with which the service is delivered remains the same, he still cuts my hair and gives me a massage with the same enthusiasm with which Zakhir Hussain plays his tabla in the ‘Wah Taj’ ad.
After a consistent level of pondering, my question is, “Is India ready for globalisation in the smaller sectors?”. The answer would be yes and no. Yes for those in metros and for those belonging to the ‘yo’ generation, but for a country of villages and elders with a mindset stronger that Tyson’s punch, it would sadly be a big no. A popular ideology is to sell what your consumer wants, and what the consumer wants here is personal attention. Of course, its tedious and the strategy is penetration rather than skimming – but boss! skimming would only give you malai, and penetration would be doodh + malai, yaani ki poora profit!!
We keep hearing about consumer connect, one to one messages but then are we getting through? A small example would be – In a small city, a newly opened departmental store, in a bid to gain goodwill, charted an attractive offer – with every 1kg rice get 1/2 kg sugar free..excellent business plan??? Well the plan back fired when half of the city turned up to avail the offer. In the next 2 hours the store ran out of sugar, and red faced store manager had to tender an apology which nearly killed the store’s business for the next 2 months, since almost everyone who didn’t get the sugar felt cheated. In short these corporate ventures should stick to the baniya philosophy of “tolo fir bolo”… weigh before you talk!
Communication strategy for people who have the money to buy but no willingness to experiment has to be drafted very carefully. After all you are dealing with people who call their milk man and their local shopkeeper to their son’s wedding because that’s how personal the relationship is! All the offers and the schemes would be helpful only if the corporates can connect to these consumers on a personal level and to do that, they need to start from the grassroots…door to door campaigning and free samples are more likely to work than not! Of course there can be the arrogant counter argument that we are targeting the younger generation, but my friends with the products that you mean to sell, your target group is kinda wrong. In most of the cases the younger generation will come into play while choosing a new car but when its comes to fmcg or domestic goods it’s usually a ball game for the elderly.
Considering all the advantages given by the new age stores, it shouldn’t be hard to engage and retain customers once they enter but the question here is to make the customers come to you and that can be a tough nut to crack. The hearing that my local baniya gets from my mom when the eggs are a tad bit smaller than the normal size would make him feel that its his and not the hen’s fault!!! But he does what he does the best, charge us for 10 eggs instead of 12, curse the hen and do all this with a lavish smile…that is hard to compete with, ain’t it?
We live in the age where towns are rapidly transforming into cities and the standard of living is being judged by one’s proximity to malls, multiplexes, food courts and other such amenities that encourage a superior lifestyle. But in all what we are forgetting is that we are remodeling a place not the minds of the people living there. If that needs to be done, the trick is to think local & communicate local. Because if the present is based on the future and the future is to accommodate the present, we conveniently forget the existence of the past and don’t forget every one listens to Mummy and Papa!!!
Personally speaking, change is good, change for the better is excellent but the change also has to be amicable. The positioning and strategies has to be appealing & more importantly the change should be for everyone. So keeping it simple – target the uncles & aunties/saas to get the younger lot, “Kyonki… Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi!! “

JAANE KAHAN GAYE WOH DIN….

The age of innovation is a bit ironical at times, we use latest technology to view our past in different and better perspectives…in short “we use the new to see the old”. Talking about the old, these days a lot of youngsters keep old ad jingles as ringtones on their cell phones, something which the stiff upper collar & the Asian paints make-up community, in short, the high society thinks as ‘too LS’ (low society = not classy)…To hell with high society-wallas, I think its damn cool, I have the ‘Zandu balm’ jingle ringing every time my boss calls on my cell, reminds me what a pain he is!!!
Not beating around the bush but beating the bush itself, it would be safe to say that these age old Doordarshan ads have become kind of a cult today. No wonder as they had the advantage of being telecasted in the era when cable television was a myth and Doordarshan was the only channel option provided to the entire country free of cost (no point buying a 100 channel TV then!!!). Also the programs during which these ads were slotted were watched by the entire country in towns; villages and metros not only due to lack of options but due to the ingenuity & superior story telling they exhibited (remember Ramayana & Mahabharata). Given the above the scenario it would be unfair to say that these ads didn’t have a superior edge in entering the books of nostalgia.
But all the edges & advantages given, these ads still exhibited something that the ads today miss…clarity of message. With the whole country as your target audience, you really had to be bang on & to the point or else you will miss by miles, something that most of these ads did brilliantly!! Simple messages like “Tandrusti ki raksha karta hai Lifebuoy”, icons like “Deepikaji” (Sita from Ramayana) & slogans like “Humara Bajaj” made these ads a perfect example of playing to your strengths than to mourn over the lack of superior technology and funds to do the extraordinary. Today the markets are bigger, the technology is better and the money is more than ever, but still with all these in our armory, our ads seem to be targeted to the wall & the sofa sets rather than the consumer. It’s like 90% of the ads can run a slogan “of the retard, for the retard & by the retard”!!!
Apologizing for the sarcasm I would like to add that not all advertisements are senseless, a handpicked few do marshal their resources brilliantly to gives us messages that become bigger than the brand themselves. While respecting the brilliant few, I remember a line always mouthed by my college professor Mr. Sunil before throwing me out of the class,“Ek kharab machli poore talab ko kharab karti hai” but “Agar poora talab kharab ho aur sirf kuch machliyan achhin ho, tab kya? Kyon Sunil Babu, badhiyan hai”. They say, learn from the past & apply in the present to have a better future, which is why the next generation of creative copywriters, marketing and communications experts rolling out of prestigious communication schools have the uphill task of doing away with stupidity sold as creativity & bringing back the era where every ad is treated as an entertainment film of 30 seconds. Itni se khwaish hai, bus hume aur kuch nahi chahiye, sirf “baratiyon ka swagat paan parag se ho”

Uff, Tumhare Yeh Usool Aur Adarsh…An Ethical Dilemma !!!

Back in the graduation days, our professor for POM (Principles of Management) who by the way looked like Chaplin with zero humor but acted like Hitler (an awesome goofy combo) used to say very eloquently, “I can teach you business but I cannot teach the ethics of business”. All I used to think was “Of course you can’t Chitler!”(Chaplin + Hitler, muhahaha).The reason being, firstly ethics wasn’t his subject and secondly, his role model was Mr.Dhirubhai Ambani!!! Well nothing against Mr. Ambani, he was quite brilliant, had an amazing vision, killer entrepreneur qualities but his rise to fame and money was riddled with a barrage of unethical decisions taken by him. But since the legendary player is long gone, I guess it’s fair to say in his defense, “Don’t hate the player… hate the game”.
In today’s business arena, the scenario suggests that the lesser we talk about ethics the better. And it shall be less, because it’s coming from me, someone who is considered to be born unethical. Personally I think it’s my unique quality, but professionally I have a theory & it goes like this, “Kya kare boss,paapi pet ke liye sab karna padta hai”. It’s not that the unethical practices done by me are justified by that line but in my defense, such practices are in a zone which creates a win-win scenario for all.
After all things could have been much worse, I could have cheated my way into being a prestigious member of the fodder scam or got caught adding pesticides in aerated drinks or be crowned the next Harshad Mehta! But I didn’t, my fault was (as the world says) tweaking facts a bit to make things look more rosy. In short, convincing people much before they are in doubt so as to eliminate any grievances in advance. It all depends on the start you’ve had & I had a tough one, when my principles were as tough as the hair on my head (it’s unbelievably hard without a gel). Not going into the rant of how my principles stood in the way of my success it would be easier to say shelving a few rules off the list kinda doubled my chances to succeed.
For all those starting out, sadly my example can’t be the one to follow but its sure can be the one to learn from. The choices of life have to be weighed in comparison to the damages it can do and the profits its can bring. The potent ones are those that have bigger collateral and will immediately or on one fine day come back to haunt you. Not endorsing unethical practices, it would be safer to say that they are a way of life and business today. Very few people can proudly say that they never endorsed any unethical activity and I am sure that a very few out of those few will be successful in today’s age. Ethics might not be directly proportionate to success but it sure is a variable factor that will influence your future and that of others.
This entire blog could have been a symphony of the importance of ethics in life and business, but I guess lying doesn’t come naturally to me when it isn’t profitable for anyone. But I do sincerely believe there is an alarm inside all of us which starts going tan-tan-tan when we are about to commit blasphemy and it’s necessary to not mute this alarm so that we don’t end being indicted for a tragedy that we didn’t intend to be a part of. They say “all is fair in love and war” but this is neither, this something bigger than that, this is life, so think twice as the decision, the consequences and the life, all three are yours!!!

Englis…The Phunny Language!!

Remember Namak Halal, well I do!!! A classic film with one of the most hilarious dialogues ever delivered by Big B. It goes something like, “I can talk Englis, i can walk Englis, I can laugh Englis, because Englis is a bery phunny language. Bhairon becomes barren and barren becomes Bhairon because their minds are very narrow”.
Bachchan then goes on to give an elaborate yet hilarious example of how well versed he is in Hindi and leaves us in splits with his complete buffoonery. I guess the whole of India must have laughed on this scene and the dialogue itself became a cult. This was yesteryears when knowing English was an added advantage unlike today where it has become a necessity. And in such a scenario where some are excellent at it, the majority suffers which makes a lot of people these days feel like it’s a crime that they are not great at English…something I call the vernacular complex!!
When I say vernacular, I don’t mean those studying in a non English medium educational institution, I mean those who have a heavy influence of their regional accent over their speaking English which in today’s hip India makes them inferior to the pure breed Indian born Angrez. Man, if the Brits come to know about this they would be beaming with eternal joy! Not only were they successful in the divide and rule policy but they unknowingly created “talk our language and feel superior” policy (Teen Goona Lagan Maaf situation). I don’t have anything against the language after all my blogs are in English (or atleast parts of them are). But how can a mastery over one language make anyone superior than those who might not have had the same resources to educate themselves in that language?
Considering the current political scenario in “Indian Raj”, not getting into the debate over which language should be used, wouldn’t be appropriate. After all, I don’t want Wizard of Proz to be renamed as Jadugar Proz (in such a case I will disown myself). But the basic law of communication is to get the message across and while English is definitely a language much used in the corporate sectors, the rural and the major urban sector of the country is still very much Hindi speaking. And these are your customers, employees and in short your target audience who would be more comfortable in talking in Hindi than to be confused the hell out by sophisticated English. Also it’s not even our national language, try using your sleek English in the northern states of India and you will get a “Bhak boodbuck” as a standard reply.
Well definitely knowing English is a must as we are in the era of globalization and it’s the language the world speaks but then does knowing it makes you superior to those who don’t …I don’t think so. What makes you superior are your thoughts and a language is simply a medium to express those thoughts. And if I can learn Latin listening to Ricky Martin’s “Un, dos, tres” how hard can learning English be with all the material you are exposed to.
For those who struggle with the language, I would say every time you think someone’s making fun of you, give them a “Yenna Rascalla” line in your mother tongue. Do that to feel better, but keep talking & reading the language because it’s not rocket science and one day you will definitely be killer at it. Also in a situation where you have to speak the language, go for the improved Indian version of English…Hinglish!!! Say those bits which you are good at in English and when you are unsure of what to say next, take a pause, add a words like “but, you see or basically” and switch to Hindi…believe me it works. Do this, keep learning & be yourself and soon you will speak such angrezi that you will leave the angrez behind… ain!

Jab PR Kiya Toh Darna Kya !!!

“Any kind of publicity is good publicity!!”, now that’s a killer dialogue… and I am 100% sure that whoever coined this term must have kept Rakhi Sawant in mind while doing so.  Any thing that is in her radius and is even a teeny weeny bit controversial will definitely explode into at least a couple of hours of news programming with the word “Jhejus” being used by her with such frequency and fervor that you might believe that she is the one who authored the bible!! Now that’s a quality on its own because that is what most of the businesses these days are about, being seen and being known.

Apart from sponsored ads created by the companies, the sale of a product or a service depends on many factors these days, one of which is the image of company in the market and in front of the layman who can be their potential customer one day. So these companies go out of their way creating an alternative image of their brand thus making them the good Samaritans and not blood sucking corporate ventures. This is where a PR firm steps in, to guarantee a creation of a positive and a clean image of an organization, individual, product, service or a brand to the outside public.

In a true corporate sense, this might be one of the most well paying and at the same time the most under rated profession in the corporate sector these days. Under rated because today everyone right from the makers of luxury cars to luxury inner-wears want to promote themselves as a caring, innovative and concerned organization. So when they hire the services of a PR firm they invariably think that they not matter what their goods are, their image will be that of a philanthropist though they may be miles away from charity. So it goes without saying that PR definitely isn’t a cake walk, events promotion & publicity topped with heavy media coverage is what a day of an average PR person would look like. In addition to this, there is damage control, which a PR firm has to do on regular basis if they have clients who have the capability of getting into trouble frequently. So when Tiger Woods delivers an emotional speech after his return from enjoying in the woods it is safe to assume that his speech has be written by a PR professional who must have had sleepless night thinking why is Tiger such a dog!!!

In the hierarchy of the PR firm are account executives starting from junior to those who handle multiple clients on their own. These are actually the people who slog to get journalists and press to events & promotions that normally wouldn’t attract even flies. Contacts, excellent communication skills and a calm head is something that an aspiring PR professional would want to cultivate as this industry demands these attributes in addition to many other that keep on fluctuating. In stark contrast to advertising where a focused communication message flows from the seller to buyer, PR has to ensure that a non focused message comes across to seller with the ideology and effect wanted by the buyer. Neither does that sound simple nor it is…but nonetheless it’s challenging and it’s not for everyone!!!

Targeted courses directed towards teaching PR in communication institutes do their best to train young & enterprising minds with innovative communication techniques and case studies to prepare them to face clients who want nothing less that 100% productivity from them. The day these clients understand that a PR professional works on building goodwill for him/her and the same cant happen over night would be the Independence Day for PR professionals around the globe. Often my blogs end with movie connotations, but in this case it would be appropriate to end this blog with  article a case study which is not only useful but engrossing for any reader who has endured my ramblings till here, because the link below is seriously much better!!!

Statutory Warning: Ads contain messages beyond your understanding!!!

Advertisements or Adverse-treatments!!!
It’s the occasion every Indian has been waiting for… the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar is just 2 runs away from scoring the legendary & the first ever 200 hundred runs in an ODI (which isn’t against a puny team Zimbabwe but the Proteas themselves). Watching that on TV is like watching the live coverage of Neil Armstrong landing on moon, who plants the tricolor instead of the USA flag. Well, that could have been possible, after all Neil kinda looked a bit duh, and what’s the point of planting a flag on the moon, considering it doesn’t even have a habitable environment…duhhh!!!.
Back to the point!! So Tendli is just 2 runs away from the creating history, emergency vehicle’s around the country are all set to deploy for the million of cardiac arrest cases just incase he gets out on 199!!! All set as Sachin is on strike for the next over and booooooooom!!! AN ADVERTISMENT!!! YES…. its about some real cool mobile phone with a QWERTY keypad, where the kid crossing the road while using it is so engrossed, that he gets run over by a vehicle….Wah, excellent!!! A product that kills its (maybe only) consumer, we get the message loud and clear!!! So it’s nice to conclude the debacle with a point that the mobile phone sales might just drop down a zillion notches considering the bad timing and of course the fact that the product is your direct gateway to heaven (I don’t say it, the ad does!!!)
Well, considering the media planning, and the occasion and the viewership, the bad timing can be understood, forgotten & forgiven, but the message conveyed by the ad and the communication strategy is entirely different scenario…that’s just pure blasphemy!! After all, what age are we living in? A deodorant isn’t marketed for its ability to keep you fresh and smell great but its effort to seduce women (and in some cases family members, gross!!!). A men’s inner wear will be sold not by its comfort factor when worn but the point that it will help you beat the bad guys while skimpily dressed females gawk at you (and how many of us flaunt our baniyan as it’s a Armani suit???). A fairness cream is directly endorsed as something that makes you the star overnight or in 7 days with no mention for the need of talent and the cream doesn’t even help you turn grey from black, leave the fairness quotient alone (From personal experiences, hence the angst!!!)
The list is endless and to come up with such examples I don’t have to do an extensive research but just flip 20 channels for the next 30 seconds and they are all there… no wonder a survey says that 75% of ads are rarely watched by consumers. It’s not that all advertisements endorse idiocy, there are intelligent and witty ones to but then they are soon becoming a myth. Companies pay through their noses for these ads, get all the famous Kumars and Khans of the world to endorse it and end up showing their consumer that consuming a particular soft drink will help do stunts, which by the way are shown with a standard warning that they are done by professionals (not the celebs, why????) and shouldn’t be done at home…thumbs up for dumbness!!! SO WHAT’S THE POINT OF SHOWING IT THEN??
Well I get it, advertisements are hyped to fascinate and the examples shown are metaphors for what the products can achieve for the consumer on a superficial level. That isn’t wrong at all and that’s something which all advertisement courses and communication schools teach…entertain to retain. But then a metaphor should just be a metaphor and not end up becoming a hyperbole. In simple words a mindless exaggeration of aesthetic visuals, good-looking faces, creative artwork and lavish exhibition of the money shouldn’t completely sidelining the message you were suppose to deliver in the first place. For that is the reason why the money, the visuals, the artwork, the celebrity and not to mention the creativity has been assembled, to get the message across.
Most of the ad companies would never admit to their mistakes but the fact of the matter is that an exaggerated message convinces a buyer much more than an exaggerated nonsense convincingly mouthed by a famous Bollywood superstar. Take a popular adhesive brand’s advertisement for instance, for ages they have come up with ads that are witty & extremely exaggerated (with no popular faces endorsing them) and yet they connect due to the sheer brilliance of the message saying it’s an adhesive and it does job so well that anything that they show seems possible… and their ads audience ke saath aise jod lagaye ki ache se acha na tod paye!!
As a humble request I would request all the so called creative minds in the famed ad business to be a bit more morally and socially responsible/sensible & please please pleeeeeease don’t interrupt moments like Tendulkar’s double ton, and post that just post a message congratulating him (even if he doesn’t endorse your product!!!) and you will increase your customer base by at least one person…Me!!! Well for all the future ad gurus and entrepreneurs of the ad world & current academics of great communication schools all that a poor soul like me can suggest is, “stick to the message” and “don’t think that your audience is dumb” because Rajesh Khana a.k.a KAKA had once very rightly said “Yeh public hai, yeh sab jaanti hai, yeh public hai!!!”

Unlocking the Communication Code…

It’s that time of the year when the heat is on…weather wise and other wise also! Generally the coming few days and months will be a time when the aspiring under grad and post grad students will utilize their nail chewing abilities to the maximum thinking about which careers to choose and the ever increasing advices will ensure that even your local barber has  a say on what would be a best career choice for you. So I thought, why stay behind, after all advice is the best weaponry a common man has and it is muft muft muft!!! But the question that comes to my mind is…what can I give advice on? The answer would be to advice on the areas that I am good at! And what I am good at…hmmmm, this is a tough one…leaving aside my major competencies & capabilities, I have always prided my ability to bore the world with my rambling or as many would call it pakaofying a.k.a communicating something which I studied and follow intensely…so I thought its better to turn my pravachan in the direction of communication.

Communication management is the ‘in’ thing today widely due to its application in almost each and every business in the market. Split into 2 major categories of corporate and creative communication, the former targets the marketing & public relation aspects of the business whereas the latter deals with the media and other allied fields. The boom in the need for communication skills has resulted in a number of prestigious institutions being set up to train the younger generation.  But a lot of myths have been generated along the way, doubting whether the so called “art of teaching to communicate” would lead to a fruitful futureor those involved, who are the ideal candidates for such a unique field and more on the same lines . Let’s try to tackle some of these myths with the help of the experience and the least bit of worldly knowledge possessed by us.

Myth 1:

You need to be a people’s person to learn communication skills: Personally if you are already a people’s person, then your so called communication skills are already honed and such a course isn’t your requirement. Also being a people’s person means being popular which has little to do when it comes to the business of communication unless you are running a political party. Yes, you need to have a likable personality and that’s something which can be worked upon by observing and being a bit more interactive with other.

Myth 2:

Communication means to talk and talk endlessly: Again if you believe in this and try to join a political party with the motto “suno kum bolo zyada”. You don’t need to be talkative to be in the field of communication. If experiences are right, it would work wonders if you can listen more and talk when needed. After all, hear what people have to say so as to provide efficient  replies.

Myth 3:

No need to learn it as it’s easy and comes naturally to many:  The difference between talking and communicating is that while the former is casual and fun, the latter is formal and serious. Communication management institutes are not public speaking institutions teaching you how to have a conversation with colleagues at the water cooler but the actual way of interacting, communicating and convincing the world. It the direct link between the 2 pillars holding a business on two far & opposite ends, the maker & the taker. Corporates today search for trained and focused communication executives who know how to handle communication with the internal and external public. And the reason being, skill of selling everyone has, but skills of convincing to buy very few acquire.

Myth 4:

Communication has no future: Kaun Bola? Kaun Bolaaa? Today we live in an age where communication has increased ten folds due to the extensive mediums available. Money, mind and machines all are driven by this single entity of communication, hence the need to study its techniques, motives and effective use. Communication is one of the few fields that gives the candidates an option to choose and explore new areas, unlike the doctors and engineers of the globe who will always remain in the fields allied to their subjects of expertise.

The motive behind saying all the above isn’t to encourage people to join communication courses but to disperse the ridiculous thought that its an easy, unnoticed and ineffective line of education & business. For he who has the skill shall convey, he who has the power shall stay bu the who has the communicative talent shall always plough the way!!!

 

TG: Target Group or Taken for Granted???

In the field of Creative, Media & Business Communication the word “Target Group” a.k.a TG is thrown around quite consistently. Actually it’s the cornerstone of any communication exercise in an institute or an office and more often than not it is the most important attribute of any organization in the business of selling. Having said so, an easy definition of target group would be the group of people we want to influence to buy the designated goods and services. Now here in is where the thought crosses the readers mind, as to if have lost my marbles to talk about a topic everyone is quite well informed about? Well as usual I do have a devious hidden agenda behind all this and before you navigate of the page & my reader count drops down to zero its suggested that I make it!

During my small stints in communication organizations and media firm I have come to realize that all this importance of delivering the message TG somehow gets lost in the hype and hoopla in the process of deliverance. The message sent out through the medium of print, television and internet somehow gloss it up to a level where the supposed connect dissolves in the secondary layer of faces and creativity. We market the attributes of a product and service yet the personalities selling them are nowhere close to the actual buyer. Why else would the fairness cream be endorsed my superstars (male & female) when in reality the afternoon sun tans us can rarely scorch them in their air conditioned cars. The issue here isn’t the face of a product or service the issue is better understanding of the TG, their problems and their issues.

Companies invest millions in researching how many meters a child grows after having their health drink but they invest very little in knowing what is the child’s mentality behind having that particular drink. The point I am trying to make is that research of such kinds will give them a direct connect with their buyers. The TG may buy a product one due to their fascination of the brand and the message but if it doesn’t match their expectations you have lost a buyer. It is hence necessary to not put on paper what our TG and their standard preferences are but try a bit more custom-made approach. Being a beginner and a learner forever I know a lot companies do invest time and money in understanding their consumers but do they apply the same when it comes to sending a message across?


If they do it’s great and if they don’t they should because after all TG doesn’t stand for a non- living object but a group of living people who are just more than a target! A guest lecturer in my media planning class had very eloquently quoted a philosophy about the TG saying, “Understand you buyer and you shall sell better!!!”…now that’s what I call a bull’s-eye!!!

The Right Medium..The Right Message

In the late 80’s when our country was soon to enter the era of globalization, the media boom hit the country like a speeding train and has been dragging our nation in its trail ever since. Back in those days, the exclusivity & the cost of obtaining specific mediums of communication (print, audio and audio-visual) drew a line of superiority among those who could afford a television, those who could only listen to radio and the last league of those who couldn’t afford both of the above and had to stick to the all time favorite, a newspaper. Whatever may be the case, the above scenario led many to believe that the sales and advertising through these communication mediums was also a superiority quotient based on who could afford which medium to publicize. In simple and non analytical language, many thought that those goods and services that had ads on television had better features and greater goodwill than those promoted on radio and much more than those showcased in the newspapers. Boy, that thought is actually offensive to media planners around the globe!

Changing times & changing trends have ensured a limited eradication of such notions but have also created a new level of misunderstanding when it comes to choosing a communication channels for promotion. Why else would we have ads of sanitary napkins on channels that only show action movies targeted specifically towards the male species? The answer lies not only in faulty media planning but also in the client’s understanding of his TG and the direction of their viewer ship. The idea is to use the mediums in the direction where the maximum audience lies. If we can ensure that we will get the right eyeballs, then if the medium is print, radio, television or internet it wouldn’t matter. Agreed that a company has to see their pocket and then decide a medium to avoid bankruptcy, but the golden rule is to be practical and select a medium that is a best fit instead of the biggest and if that is done then it can be milked till the cans run dry. What is the point of running ads of hearing aids on radio, unless you are targeting for those potential customers who shall become deaf soon after your jingle is played out?

An additional issue that prevails in this sector is the extent of reach that is needed. Going back to theory there are 2 basic strategies, i.e. penetration and skimming. Incase of the former one, the media planner goes all out trying to get as many eyeballs possible in the least possible time where as the latter helps him to space out the messages on the communication medium so as to not force it down the consumer’s throat. An ideal example of the penetration strategy would be when you start catching continuous trailers of a soon to be released movie, followed by the actors of the same coming as guest judges on reality shows they would have never watched before, tuning into them radio jockeying on fm channels during the bustling morning frequencies and finally a constant presence of them in the daily newspapers as page 3 appearance or stand alone articles focusing on their elusive lifestyles.  Skimming strategy is more subtle on the other hand, like jewelry ads shown during selected female centric television shows and sizeable cutouts in the women magazine and newspapers to ensure that the TG remembers. In addition to these 2 strategies, the matrix of mix and match allows us to use both strategies individually or simultaneously in various ranges depending on situation and demands. But the basic philosophy remain the same, where the honey falls the flies shall accumulate, the honey being the medium and regretfully the audience acting as flies.

Theories help us plan and practical teaches us to execute, but both are inefficient unless the planning and execution happens with a clear view of the road ahead. Whatever the strategy, however strong the message, it’s the right medium that ensures deliverance and successful completion of the communication process or else it’s a disaster best explained by the line “jaana tha japan pahunch gaye cheen”….

Electrolux

Visualizer: Rahul Kumar Singh (2010 Batch)

Brand: Electrolux

HIT Spray

Visualizer: Jainendra Joshi (2009 Batch) Placement : K & V Media , Mumbai

Brand: HIT Spray

Chashmewala

Visualiser: Tejas Tamhane (2009 Batch) Placement: Focus Circle, Mumbai
Brand: ICICI Lombard
Objective: Brand building

Zodi fire

Visualizer: Jigme Roy Burman (2009 Batch) Placement: Focus Circle, Pune

Every puff of cigarette reduces a second from your life.....

Visualizer: Vivek Thakur (2009 Batch)

Save Water

Visualizer: Arati Kadam (2010 batch)  
Internship : MPG, Singapore

Objective: Save Water