I presented on this topic at the seminar held by Bombay Chamber of Commerce on the 27th of November, 2009.  I have embedded the slide deck with this blog.  Key take-aways were: Social media is ‘not free’ Content still remains the king Social Media Vs. SEM - can co-exist together Social Media for Marketing and Corporate Communication Some of the slides in the deck may not be self-explanatory.  Write to... 

Signing up for booth space in any industry event is an expensive affair and you definitely should strive to make the most out of that investment. This requires loads of planning upfront and you should set up your booth in a way that it attracts maximum visitors. You need to grab the attention of someone in 2-3 seconds as that is the time that it takes for a visitor to walk past your booth. You need to plan well and... 

This post is primarily addressed to Fortune 500 companies, Large-sized companies, Medium-sized companies, SMEs and Small Businesses. Did I leave anyone out ;)? You need a website or brochure or shopping bags or ad banners or any of the marketing collaterals that require design. What do you do - design them of course. How do you do it – you either design it in-house or outsource the design or hand it over to a designer/studio/agency.... 

Most statistics show that 33% of all new businesses fail after just 2 years and 56% fail after 4 fighting years. When it comes to software product businesses, the numbers are really scary so… let me leave it at that.   Ask failed software entrepreneurs, they will agree that ‘building a great software product is necessary but not sufficient.’ Myself and Saba, co-founder, DJargon, met a technology start-up last week... 

As part of our service offerings, we help our customers to dig out value propositions for their businesses and products. During such closed door exercise, we flood our customers with innumerable, lengthy and nagging questions till we hear something unique from them. We believe that asking the right questions unearth the right answers. If you haven’t got the answers for your business challenges, probably you have not... 

What is the trigger to the free fall in trust in print and TV Advertising? Is it the emergence of internet? Or the rise of digital marketing? Or the power of word of mouth marketing? Or the latest heart throb – social media marketing?   I think it is none of these that contribute to the falling trust in consumer advertising. It is how the Ads are made and delivered. Hopelessly, majority of them are misleading. Am I... 

A smart cocktail of print and online advertising can result in bigger and better leads! What you need to keep in mind to ensure that your next print ad succeeds in directing customers to your store/website for purchase. Remember 1: Agency Copywriters love to pun and ‘craft’ clever headlines. You better love your product and ensure the headline screams about the unique benefit and follow it up with loads of substantiation.... 

As a Chief Executive Officer everything you say and whatever you do attracts attention inside and outside the office. Whether the times are ordinary or extraordinary; economy is soaring high or lying low – you need to face the heat or shake the champagne as the case may be.   At times like these, you will be tested to the core. Employees, customers and stakeholders can’t help probing and dissecting your actions and... 

I am a big fan of Warren Buffett. In a recent interview Warren Buffett made yet another ‘written on the wall’ kind of comment. This time it was on Outsourcing. He said, “You know I’m a big guy in outsourcing. I didn’t deliver my own three children…I called an obstetrician. I do not want to have some member of my family fill my teeth or try to do it myself. So if somebody can do a job better than I can, and... 

Branding is no more what people say about you when you are not there. Branding is what people say when you are not online!   How do you create this digital perception? Where do you start from? My experience says that it should begin with ‘Naming the company’ or ‘Naming the Product’!   May be you are a start-up or you are in the process of re-shuffling your businesses, or reconfiguring a merged entity, revitalizing...