Better questions lead to better answers
Reading Time: 6 minutesIf we’re not answering the right questions, we’re destroying value. Yet, asking the right questions is so difficult.
Competition is a state of mind
Reading Time: 8 minutesCompetition motivates us by giving us benchmarks to beat. But like salt, only the right level is ideal. For real mastery, competition stops being an external race and becomes a state of mind
The Ripening of the Influencer Economy
Reading Time: 9 minutesInfluencing needs to be legitimized as a formal job. This will also be good for the country.
The next frontier of marketing: community flywheels
Reading Time: 7 minutesWhether you are a legacy brand or a startup, if you are not investing in a community right now, you might get left behind in 2033
A simple influencer framework. Too simple perhaps?
Reading Time: 7 minutesWalk with me as I explore the influencer landscape and psychology of influence to arrive at a simple framework – influencers help sell product, celebrity influencers help build brands
The brand vs product see-saw
Reading Time: 9 minutesIf both product and brand are in equilibrium, business is stronger. Examples from L’Oreal, Lipton Ice Tea, Amazon, Lifebouy, Lux, Dove, Sleepy Owl, Blue Tokai, Patanjali, Coke, and Pepsi
Gods, Demi-Gods, Celebrities, and Influencers
Reading Time: 8 minutesIndia is a culture of hero-worship. Our heros fall along a continuum based on their role in our life and the psychological distance between us. And what this means for brands
Boring and unboring marketing
Reading Time: 8 minutesBoring = consistency that compounds, Unboring = trajectory-shifting creativity. Examples from ABInBev, Michelin and Ceat + my experiences from Lipton Ice Tea and Closeup
It takes skill to get lucky in marketing
Reading Time: 7 minutesEven though marketing outcomes are influenced by luck, being skilled is better than being unskilled. And skilled marketing is a combination of boring and unboring.
Dance The Dance Between Standing out and Blending in
Reading Time: 9 minutesWhen is blending in a good strategy and when does it become a malady of mediocrity? Like life, there is no failsafe formula – blending in and standing out fall along a continuum.