Dubai Means Business

Dubai Means business...

Don't we all mean business, always ? Or want to ? Of course in the right spirit of busineSS ? With ethics & values.

Came across this brilliant clip - well-planned & executed.

I have always loved the energy of Dubai, like 'Amchi'(our own) Mumbai. But always liked my short trips to there, personal or professional. Thankfully, not living there :)

Check out
http://c522031.r31.cf3.rackcdn.com/Infra_Website_Long_UK.mp4

A simple test for a budding entrepreneur

Are you still 'planning' to start a business ? Still working on the Business Plan ? Still dreaming big ? As they say in SSpirituality, there is nothing like a SSpiritual Plan (like Bus Plan). Just do it !! But the simple test is to differentiate between thoughts emanating from EGO & DIVINITY ! Of course, that is applicable to virtually any situation in life. Sharing this article to take a call & move on.... Put the business idea to a simple test : Dream Vs Passion Check out http://www.inc.com/tom-searcy/start-a-business-are-you-passionate-enough.html?utm_source=sales-and-marketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=incid40664week08

A healthy salad with a side of ignorance

A healthy salad with a side of ignorance

The problem is trained staff.

Surprisingly that part of the event is taken for granted.

Hertz Eco plans

More big brands should take up such 'big' Eco friendly initiatives

Leadership lessons from Toyota's recall crisis

Came across this interesting article in Fortune on Toyota. *

Virtually every one was critical about the re-call fiasco at Toyota.

• The customers ( present, past & future?) were upset for failing to live up to their (our) perception about Toyota quality !
• People representative, government agencies and relative departments, were quick to pounce on the copmany 
• Media was quick to jump, to give maximum coverage, may be in their pursuit of TRP, rather than customer safety ( environmental safety is beyond most of media, anyways!)
• Experts were quick to point out the whole episode as a 'PR fiasco'. They meant, if Toyota had handled PR well, just as most mega corps may do, it would have been less damaging !!
• Even nature seemed to be furious, unleashing disasters at their facilities in Japan & Thailand !

Perhaps all forgot the fact, for every Toyota recall crisis, 100 go unreported - we can blame it on an indifferent consumer, irresponsible govt machinery & media... and, a bit of PR effort by the erring organisations !

Now, at the end of the recall crisis, Toyota can breathe easily. We are talking about a 800k cars officially involved in recall ! Mind-blowing numbers, surely.

Thrust into the presidency in 2009, he would be preferred a less dramatic period to settle down. But, he had to face a series of challenges, natural & man-made ( are all not man-made, at a holistic level ?)

Toyota is on a come-back trail. Lot of credit goes to the leadership.
They will (have to ) focus more on quality, will launch many news models/variants (over 20 planned in 2012), will energise not only their Lexus brand, but also the manpower....
The youthful leader now appears less in suits, but more in the garb of a racer !!
Of course, media is only keen to oblige !!

Interesting times ahead for the automobile enthusiast !


* Check out the link
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/02/09/toyota-akio-toyoda-comeback/?section=magazines_fortune

SRK brand ambassador of Kolkotta

@SrBachchan was chosen brand ambassador of Gujarat. I was not entirely happy. Not because I have anything against the superstar or the govt.

Even now, when I see AB on TV, whether in a movie/ad/interview/news-bite, I get 'hooked', briefly though.  When I get totally involved with the program, laugh (as it happened 2 days ago watching a scene from 'Sharabi'), my wife finds it amusing! Otherwise my natural disposition is not a 'smiley').
The angry young man was the hero, all along childhood & teens!

For Gujarat, I felt a better choice would have been a successful Gujju. But then, as always, AB brings an element of class to anything he does - whether it is performance in Chini Kum/Paa or KBC (I hardly watched though) or ads (ICICI bank/Pru or Titan or Reid & Taylor).

 Now Kolkotta has gone a step further & roped in SRK. Now, he does not live there, naturally. He is not a Bong! Of course, he owns part of Knight Riders.(He just introduced a new logo, along with Juhi )
But, by 'mis-handling' the Prince of Kolkotta, he has as many cricket-fans against him, across the city & country.

Why this obsession with Bollywood ? BWood is an important, beautiful & integral part of India. But, we need to look beyond just Bollywood. Of course, beyond cricket too. Tendulkar can expect a call to represent Amchi Mumbai. Rajnikanth/MSD can expect a call from Chennai ( a new Tamil film is "Dhoni, not out")  Of course, current CM & previous CM, both with their roots in Tamil cinema, may consider themselves the ultimate brand-ambassadors for Chennai !

Watch out for more city/state brand ambassadors !

gulfnews : Ford revs up for another year of robust growth

Ford registered 50% growth in region.

The new Explorer is a big draw

Watch out Lincoln range - more action expected in near future

gulfnews : Ford revs up for another year of robust growth

Chinese Car Market Export

China exported 850 K cars last year, up 50% !

While monthly sale of cars dropped to just above one million last month (1.5 million last year), exports are doing fine.

They have exported virtually across the globe. But major destinations include Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia

3 mores essential to entrepreneurship

Came across an inspiring report on the concluding session of GCF held here recently...

Delivering the keynote address, the former S Korean PM, Un-Chang said '3 mores were essential to creating a society of educated people who can aspire to a hopeful future'.


Some global brands emerged from the erstwhile chaebols - Samsung phone & TV, LG across consumer durables, Hyundai/Kia cars, to name a few... As such he has seen it all... and hence his views surely very relevant & also, appropriate, in the current situation.

1. More Open - open mindedness, along with knowledge, was critical to entrepreneurship. Society should be open to new ideas to emerge to create a climate of entrepreneurship !
2. Confidence - the 'right' sense of confidence... needs no elaboration at all !
3. Compassion - Mr Chung noted, 'the rational market, by its very nature, was not concerned with social justice and fairness. Capitalism should be rooted in sound ethics, but the economic system in the last couple of decades has not talked about ethics'... :(

Drop in practise of  ethics, fairness and social justice have been the bane of most of ills of society. . . 

Do What You Love

Do what you love Vs Love what you do...

This is a nice story of an entrepreneur who gets to do what she loves !
Also, Eco friendly. Primary mode of travel, is not a car, but a bicycle :)

http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-to-do-what-you-love-for-a-living.html?nav=pick

Let us be responsible citizen !

Fourth Estate Times of India Vs The Hindu

During my last trip to Amchi Mumbai, I had made the following comments...

• Talking among newspapers, I still cannot understand why do Times of India has so many pages! They may consider it as a very hot product ! But, it is more 'humid', than that ! Fourth Estate deserves to maintain certain amount of consistent quality! Why waste paper/environment, reader's valuable time ( though he/she can choose... but do we choose really?)

But the soft copy version, was quite 'vulgar'! Once, few months into my life outside India/Mumbai, an Indian colleague commented looking at ToI website, 'people may mistake it for a porn site' ! That too from a newspaper which is a leader and has some great articles such as Speaking Tree... ( their sheer size of each edition, with its several Page 3's and beyond, would make it a serial-killer of trees!)    


It is against this background I am very happy to note the entry of The Hindu to Mumbai. Yes, as a child it was not my favourite brand, as my fauji dad would insist I flip thru the newpaper, daily. Subsequently, he was critical I would start with sports page, but he was glad that I was getting hooked. But that has helped immensely, later in my life... Of course, English teachers would insist, 'read the editorial' !


I did try this out with my kid, but with very limited success :) Once in a while I would pick up the previous day's edition of The Hindu, from our newspaper vendor ( in Mumbai). 


I am more delighted to see their TVC's (on NDTV). They have taken it head-on... no one, incl ToI would have expected that from Chennai's own TH !! Rajnikanth belongs there, 'mind it!!'

• ATM - had so many definitions? (I am going to share with my banker-colleagues/friends...)!!
• what does UPA stands for...was hilarious
• Ratan Tata's successor... :)

check out : 
http://www.mutiny.in/2012/01/28/wake-up-to-the-the-hindu-times-of-india-ad-war/

BCCI now be sahara

Sahara has opted out of cricket sponsorship, after 11 year old association with the game, at the top level in India.   Cricket is the ‘sahara’ for the average Indian fan, with Sachin, Veeru, MSD etc being their idols. Sachin’s 100th ton is a more fascinating milestone for many than the team’s prolonged misery caused by a string of losses abroad.   After Sahara, who ? This is a question among many of us, fans.. who are passionate, but more aware & responsible, perhaps! I was shocked to see KFC sponsoring Aussies in their T20 ( may be more?) match. It is their choise, surely. But in India, I hope a more responsible corporate takes over from Sahara, not a fast food or anything related, like KFC/Mc Donald or Pepse/Coke ( I am not picking up on foreign brands, but the category). We don’t want the youngsters to be more addicted to these unhealthy food options.   Of course, we don’t want the entire team asking, ‘have I made it big?’ Though they made it big around world cup time,     the tagline is also not relevant any more J ( Of course, Yuvi’s new Birla Sunlife ad would be more appropriate to the wounded Indian cricket-tigers!)   On a serious note, BCCI should be aware of this responsibility to the game and its fans. Even at the loss of few crores, get the branding right ( at least !)

Mahindra and Mahindra ad

The M & M ads continue to slide in quality. The earlier featured a popular photographer... Then, a sweet dog, thankfully... But the new ad for the mega hit XUV 5 'O' 'O' ( not Zero!!), was totally unwarranted. Perhaps M&M missed a golden opportunity to back up a hit product with an inspiring ad !!

Australian Auto Industry

Australian auto industry does not have a big domestic market nor a big export market, esp with rising currency. But they still have the Govt support & perhaps a cooperative union/healthy work-ethic. But their failure to design deeper, beyond modified police car or pick up, will affect the industry in the long run.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16713690