Marketing in a Branded World

Healed the world with your music !

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:25:00 +0000

Its’ a sad day for the world of music, as the King of Pop, Michael Jackson passed away last morning, suffering from a heart attack. A tragic end to an amazing genius, who simply ruled the world with his mind blowing music, and creating an entirely new trend in the world of Pop and R&B

As we grew up listening to his everlasting music, his death can be quite hard to accept, as we sometimes relate and assume eternal immortality to our icons and their piece of art.
Some of his songs including “Jam, Remember the Time, Black or White Heal the World, Just Beat It, You Rock my world” and several other singles still loop around in millions of hearts and stands the test of time

With several allegations to his name, and millions in debts, MJ’s life wasn’t as glorious as his music turned out to be, and despite his acquittal in all the 12 cases levied against him for child abuse, his image was completely tarnished and defamed by the media and press. He went close to bankruptcy and was almost forced to sell his Texas ranch to clear of his debts and legal suits. After suffering from various illnesses for the past 10 years, Jackson was due for a comeback concert on July 13, and his death could only be an ironic end to all the speculations and reports surrounding him.

As I usually say , “Someone who creates good music is a genius ,but someone who defines music is God. And there’s one and only god – Michael Jackson”

Long live his music and may his soul rest in Peace

I'm Bangaloreddd !

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:45:00 +0000

(My office Building - The cream/white colour building)

A new job in a new city can certainly accelerate things in one's insipid and rather stagnant life , and could bring in a completely new perspective and dimension to the world around you or as one might refer it to a paradigm shift ,if you happen to know the word.
Esp it happens to be a dream job in a top notch company , there's nothing more to expect for,completely overshadowing ur past failures , making you forget all those bad breakups and other troubles that seem to haunt you for months to come , even making the constant shuttling between Chennai and Bangalore every week , a worthwhile journey
And this is just a glimpse of my past month's events .The original version runs into several pages

I always intended and desired to rant about personal and common stuffs in my blog .yet,after several deleted rough drafts,I have resisted it strongly , so as to not affect the theme of my blog, which includes marketing and sports

Sports in all forms has been a complete disappointment to its million fans across the world , esp in the past few weeks ,and as the Murphy theory holds, all wrong things happen at the same time.A small dissection of these sports follows:

Cricket : A classy ,gentleman's game has been turned into a raging, impatient, quick-to-fame game with its introduction of the T20 format ,which is being further divided into IPL, World Cup T20, Champions league etc. The World Cup , similar to the IPL had its own share of upsets. The overconfident, injured, Ex-Champ, Indian team , falling like nine pains to power of Gayle , the mammoth Aussies being eliminated in the first round ,or the mighty South Africans losing to Pakistan , the World Cup has become another disaster , as evident from its dull SriLanka-Pakistan finale. Not that they didnt deserve it , but it jus shows to prove that this version is only for those who can make it happen that day , and doesnt give any compliments and regards to true class and brilliance.

F1 : A sport , completely dominated by politics , and its future hanging in the balance , adding to its recession woes . At a perfect "unperfect" moment, F1 chief Max Mosley comes up with a budget cap of more than 60 % , and a standardized engine for all the teams and promptly and rightly rebuked by 8 of the 10 major teams threatening to quit and start a rival series.
The situation has worsened now , as the deadline for the agreement has ended , and the new series is jus less than a step away. F1 fans have felt complete contempt with these new political developments and divided upon which one to follow, though the balance tips in favour of the rival series , since it includes Ferrari,Mclaren,Brawn GP,Red Bull Toyota and so forth.
F1 will be merely reduced to just any other sport with teams like Force India and other useless American teams competing it and may not be really that worthwhile. The sport's sponsor may also duly shift to the rival teams , as thats where the big brands and big bucks lie.

Football : One of the widely adored teams, Manchester United has given up on its key Portugese striker,Christiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for a sum of 80 million pounds,thus ending the year long controversy. Added to that , United has failed to renew its contract with Argentinian striker Carlos Tevez , which comes as a rude double shock to its fans and a major cause of worry to the already ageing team of Scholes,Giggs,Rio Ferdianand and so on. Man Utd might find itself in a big crisis , as to whom to fill in as replacements for the right midfielder and striker position and has got a major job in their hands , and as to its future , even Alex Ferguson may not have the answer to it

Tennis : Nadal misses out on Wimbledon , due to injury , and a major disappointment to the Centre Court audience not to witness the duel between Nadal and Federer

and to add to it , I havent added Golf and BasketBall to this rather depressing list

Anyways have a happy sporting weekend ppl !!

Search Engine Optimization

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:38:00 +0000

Search engine Optimization (SEO) as defined by Wikipedia is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results

A better understanding of SEO is obtained by studying the structure of search engines.
An internet Search engine basically comprises of of three types , which are
• Search Engines : Google , Yahoo ,MSN ,Live etc
• Directories : Yahoo Directory,Open Directory etc
• Portals : AOL,Netscape etc

The above mentioned search engines take into account many factors while deciding the ranking of a given website and also plays an important role in positioning the web site among its search results
Hence SEO is a crucial thing for several internet businesses which tries to race ahead against its competitors to rank among the top in the search results for a given service
Another reason for the existence of the SEO industry is the fact that the vast majority of Web sites are developed with no thought about how they will generate traffic and hence a professional Search Engine Optimization service bridges this gap
There are several sites that offer professional SEO Services for a website , which includes long term marketing strategies for keyword placement on major search engines. Keyword Performance LLC is one such firm which is an ethical search engine optimization company that offers five star seo services for natural and organic rankings and offer everything from standard SEO to press release services and distribution.
Video is a relatively new technology to search engine optimization (SEO) and, within the past few years, has changed from being another form of social media marketing and a link back to another tool to enhance ranks in a search engine. It is also touted to be a multibillion dollar marketing strategy in SEO industry within a couple of years. The video seo service offered by this firm comprises of Professionally produced Search Engine Optimization Videos to enhance your Google rankings and increase traffic to your website.

The rant of a disgruntled CSK Fan and his IPL Analysis

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Mon, 25 May 2009 08:42:00 +0000

The second edition of the IPL finally drew its curtains last night with resounding success, as perfectly orchestrated by Lalit Modi . With 8 star studded teams , it was always predicted to be a exciting clash of the big players including the retired veterans , who still managed to retain and display their prowess and their hard hitting skills.

Unlike last year in India,the SA pitches proved to be a tough battling ground for the batsmen .The pitches were dead and flat , the ball didn’t come on to the bat , and proved out to be a paradise for spin bowlers and scoring runs became quite an ordeal . Totals of 170+ were hardly reached, and even 120 became a very competitive total to chase under lights in several cases.

The IPL almost belonged to the spinners, which included the greats of Warne, Muralitharan, Kumble and even Raina who were extremely economical and tough to play, against their spin. The pace bowlers, on the other hand suffered the demolishing onslaught of prolific batsmen like Hayden ,Glichrist and Sehwag who were simply a treat to watch , as they smashed countless sixes ,most of them disappearing out of the ground. Sreesanth might have had several sleepless nights and nightmares, after being totally demoralized and smashed by the big gutsy Hayden , who might have as told him “Think of a different career option, rather than bowling to me”

Hayden undoubtedly became the key performer of this season, with 572 magnificent runs with a staggering average of 52. His one hand sixes to deep fine leg , walking down the pitch to a pace bowler , as if taking a stroll to meet his other partner , and meanwhile dispatching the ball to a six , 5 quick fire half centuries , and a strike rate of 145 , the IPL couldn’t have offered more.
In fact the 37 year old was touted to be the best fielder amongst the players , with his brilliant catches, and diving fielding in the ground , which shamed even the 20 year olds who couldn’t even figure out where the ball was going to land ,or to throw directly at any of the six large stumps

The IPL Flaws

Despite its adaptation from the English Premier League , the IPL has failed to replicate the football leagues in its points system or the league format and has almost become a huge disaster with two major upsets in the semis .

The English Premier League has 20 teams , with two matches between each teams , and the team with the highest points at the end of the 38 matches wins ( A goal difference comes in to play if there is a tie) and hence no concept of a semi final or finals

The UEFA champions league has a “2 leg” feature , where there are 2 matches of every semi final and the team with the highest goal difference (also higher “Away” goals) at the end of two matches subsequently qualifies to the finals ,hence completely ruling out any irregularities and upsets.

The T20 version, unlike its 50 over predecessor , is completely susceptible to major upsets and hence a direct semifinal berth to teams qualifying in the 3rd and 4th spots was a big mistake . Everyone predicted a Delhi vs Chennai clash (with the Super Kings handsomely winning the diamond and ruby enriched trophy , over the Daredevils ) . Yet , it became a Hyd Vs Blore finals , and turned out to be a major anticlimax finish to this exciting season and dearly losing out a major chunk of the TV viewers ,despite the promised glamourous closing ceremony featuring the hot fashion models, Akon’s performance etc .
In fact , Set Max even advertised a Deccan Chargers vs Super Kings final ,after the first semi , and had to change those copies immediately.

IPL Marketing

Coming to the marketing aspects , it has been learnt from the official figures , that all franchisees including the last placed KKR , has earned close to the 66.5 crores from the total bounty received from sponsors ,broadcasting rights and TV Ad revenues . The TRP Ratings for the IPL has completely dominated over all other shows , including reality shows and the ever popular TV soaps , and managed to convert a major chunk of even non cricket followers to watch this 4 hour of madness.

Vodafone , in fact found it immensely favourable to launch their ZooZoo ad campaigns , during the IPL matches , though its sales & ROI on advertising is still in great doubt ( Though experts might argue it doesn’t lead to direct sales and acts as only a brand value and brand recall enhancing concept.
My Question : They are absolutely adorable and funny, but is it worth spending so much ? )

Future ?

Modi is contemplating 2 tournaments of this version in the same year , and even considering venues like US, Europe in the forthcoming years.
This might be a big profitable venture for him and his comrades , but it can prove catastrophic to the game of cricket as such , with the already declining Test Cricket format . In all fairness , England and Australia are the only venues , where one still expects a fairly large amount of attendance to the 5 day version , while countries like West Indies, India and even South Africa hardly sees a 5000+ spectator count for 5 days together.
ICC has to act strongly in order to save this enduring and brilliant version of the game .
Where else can you expect real strategies to come in to place, the batting captain declaring on lunch in the fourth day ,setting his opposition a fairly modest total with 1.5 days to go or the struggling team holding on to its final few wickets on tea on the final day , trying to play out its final few overs without losing any more wickets, with almost 7 fielders, just inches away and surrounding the batsmen to catch hold of anything red before it pitches in the ground.

On the lighter note , the Kolkata Knight Riders , managed to satisfy everyone’s expectations by losing 8 games continuously and finishing last in the table ,and got the distinction of being eliminated first.
I hope they stick on to their same game plan next year too

A Twittering World

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:14:00 +0000

A microblogging website , that lets user post about "what they are doing" ,in just 140 characters, whose basic idea sprung up from a simple status message concept from Instant Messengers like Gtalk, Yahoo Messenger etc, Twittering has become the next generic name and an Internet buzzword , alongside Googling , Digging and Facebooking......

With the growing buzz , Twitter has also been flooded with celebrity pages , with several high profile people creating a Twitter page for them , to update their fans about their schedules, events,photos etc.
The list has included everyone from Lance Armstrong, Oprah Winfrey , Britney Spears, Mariah Carey , Coldplay , Chris Cornell , Larry King and even sports teams like LA Lakers, NFL etc

Infact it has not even spared the political world , where the likes of Barack Obama and 10 Downing Street are constantly using it to reach out to their people and listen to their queries . For a fact . Obama’s Twitter page has almost 1.05 million followers whereas 10 Downing Street has a half million viewers.

comScore reports that 9.3 million people worldwide used Twitter in March, up from 4.3 million in February, growth it partly attributes to the large amount of media coverage Twitter has received.

Revenue Model

Twitter co founder , Biz Stone says , they are trying to create value for their consumers and once the "Twitting" fad grows into a larger phenomenon , they would start on their revenue generation spree by targetting companies .
Twitting experts on the other hand feel , that traditional advertising will not work for this microblogging site , and Twitter must adopt an entirely different strategy to make money out of this site.
As Kotler says , "The aim of marketing is to make selling unnecessary"

Revenue need not come only from ads. Twitting updates from users across the world, about their activities , at a given point of time , at a given place , can lead to enormous customer insights which can be further sold to major firms including market research agencies , and at the same time , protecting the privacy of the individual users.

Keyword search can also be a key element in their revenue , with the type of information streaming out constantly from their 9 million users would lead to a very profitable customer insight database to be sold to firms.

E.g. If a media agency is able to understand that people belonging to a particular city , say New York, are more inclined to watching TV at a given hour(from their Twitter updates) , this can lead to better media planning and hence increased network ratings for that corresponding channel

Twitter also plans to develop tools that brands and companies can use to drive research and engage consumers. These brands can create premium and paid "Twitter” pages that contains exclusive information on the latest releases, news and articles about them, and also offers special discounts to their "followers"

Future of Twitter

With a simple one line concept of "What you are doing " Twitter has certainly turned some heads and on an expansion spree. The success of it lies in its simplicity and the timeframe of the message it tries to convey (similar to Digg - Digg ur fav posts , Facebook - A place to network with friends and relatives , LinkedIn - a place to network with possible recruiters etc)
It is also touted to be the 2009 Top technology trend of the year.

Despite all the media frenzy surrounding it , the future of Twitter is still uncertain , where some users believe it will either die a eventual death after a brief stint or it will get taken over by some corporate giant like Microsoft or Google
Rumors has it , that talks are already been taking place , for a complete buyout by Google in the near future.
Will it be called Twoogle then ?

Catch me on Twitter at :http://twitter.com/hkmurali

The Brawn Identity

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:46:00 +0000

F1 2008 , in the recession era , has witnessed several changes , in the form of cost cutting (almost 60 %) , structural modifications to the car and rule changes.

The changes include :

Return of the slick tyres (in addition to the intermediates, the wet tyres and the soft compound tyres)
A smaller rear wing and a much wider front wing with driver-adjustable flaps
KERS, the Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems which can give drivers up to an additional 85 horsepower for 6.6 seconds a lap
Engine : ev limits will be cut from 19,000 to 18,000 rpm. Drivers will be limited to eight engines per season, with each team allowed an additional four engines for testing
The pit lane will now remain open throughout any safety-car period, allowing drivers to refuel without penalty

(source : F1.com)

FIA , has constantly revolutionizing the sport , with radical changes almost every year , to keep up with the popularity of the sport ,in comparison to others .Their aim has been basically to stop the dominance of certain drivers and teams ,due to their increased financial resources and highly advanced R&D setup, which has ultimately led to declining interest in viewership ( Not yet proved completely !!)

They first went after the racing god , Michael Schumacher , by introducing structural modifications in the F1 car to prevent him from winning . When he eventually retired , they went after the Ferrari team , and to stop their monopoly in the constructor standings, and as such havent been successful in stoppign them.

Until last year , the game stood as a 2 horse race , with only Ferrari and Mclaren giving it a real tough fight to gain the championship , with the likes of Renault , Sauber , Toyota coming a distant fifth or sometimes barely scoring a point.
Season 2009 , on the other hand has a come real shocker , with debutantes "Brawn-Mercedes"(Ex-Honda) team , comprising of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello has finished 1-2 while giants like Ferrari and Mclaren hardly finished the race .

As far as marketing is concerned , its a good thing to see a healthy competition existing amongst the teams, but when it comes to a sport like F1 , the fan base basically comprises of a 70 % Ferrari fans and a 30 % Mclaren (read : Lewis Hamilton fans) and hence it will be a major disappointment to see a team like Ferrari struggle against minnows like Brawn Mercedes,Red Bull,Torro Rosso or Toyota

F1 boss,Bernie Ecclestone has certainly got his facts wrong , and is acting upon a wrong assumption that , F1 can be saved only if even the lower placed teams are given a handicap or some other kind of advantage to give them a podium finish.

F1 doesnt sell because Jenson Button or a Sebastian Bourdais wins
F1 doesnt sell in India because it has the Force India team ( If thats the case , GP2 should be more popular , since India seemed to grab more wins there )
F1 doesnt sell because of a Williams or a BMW Sauber car

The only reason F1 is the most favoured sport in the world is because of the Prancing Horse,Ferrari . The single most greatest car in the whole world. Their dominance in the sport , (starting with Michael Schumacher till their recent find ,Felipe Massa) is the only reason F1 is surviving. A car , that has inspired millions to race , that has redifined the word "speed" and
has constantly stood for the ideal dream car , every guy wants to own.

Hope the Malaysian circuit brings back the Ferrari dominance. !

Ending on a lighter note , I just came across Jerry Seinfeld's standup act on loyalty towards sports teams :

" Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify. Because the players are always changing, the team can move to another city, you're actually rooting for the clothes when you get right down to it. You know what I mean, you are standing and cheering and yelling for your clothes to beat the clothes from another city. Fans will be so in love with a player but if he goes to another team, they boo him. This is the same human being in a different shirt, they *hate* him now. Boo! different shirt!! Boo. "

Metrics of Online Advertising

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:46:00 +0000

Too often, in the Digital purchase funnel, the last click gets the credit for the conversion

The reality is that media channels overlap and multiple sites reach consumers prior to conversion. Yet, the advertising metrics and models developed for online marketers largely ignore the question of when media exposure occurs.

By measuring the last ad seen or clicked by a converter, they focus entirely on a brief time span at the bottom of the funnel. Evaluating only a single point of advertising contact oversimplifies the delivery and performance of any media channel."

In studying more than 17 million conversions between May and September of 2008, Microsoft was able to probe conversions that represented the results of advertising campaigns conducted by 250 advertisers on thousands of web sites - specifically, a total of more than over seventeen million conversions that occurred between May and September of 2008.

"Notably, affiliate networks and search engines often reach customers for the first time just a few days or hours prior to conversion. But categories like entertainment and news tend to reach in-market consumers weeks or months before conversion, and deliver their frequency over a longer period of time," the Atlas Institute offering explains.

"The reason why these sites reach consumers at such different times becomes clearer when we consider where they might logically reach a consumer who is traveling through the sales funnel."

Source : World Advertising and Research Center , Microsoft

Delhi 6 to Chandini Chowks !

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:57:00 +0000

Am back here in the blogging circuit after an amazing trip to one of the splendors of India , Rajasthan and Delhi

Covering a distance of almost 2000 kms in a span of 5 days, it turned out to be a very long road journey covering almost several parts of Rajasthan including Jaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer , Pokran, Ajmer , Pushkar & Delhi and back to Chennai. Yet it was an enthralling and unforgettable experience to be mesmerised by the grandeur and beauty of the forts and palaces

But what really struck me , was the phenomenal changes that has undergone in the nation's capital in the past few years. Delhi ,since childhood has always fascinated me in several ways . One being the beautiful historical monuments like Qutub Minar,Red Fort lined across the city, the immortal beauty of the Taj,the varied culture prevalent in the city , the food and the pretty gals :P

The same city though is now shedding its historical tag in lieu of becoming a highly developed "modern and a cool" city with its massive skyscrapers ,malls , discs and the dominance and rising fame of the shopping streets from Sarojini Nagar to Chandni Chowks , thanks to Bollywood cinema. Gurgaon , in fact looked like a shining jewel and resembled almost like New York ,at night when viewed from the highway

Not that I am against this trend of modernisation , it's jus sometimes a sad state to see history being forgotten , and other factors come into place .Reports indicate that even the famous city tours have begun including the Chandni Chowks the famous malls etc and leaving out the historical landmarks . People heading out to Delhi are more keen in checking out the famous malls and the shopping areas , than seeing the landmarks which might be of a little concern , for "Brand Delhi" .Can the brand still possess the historical places as its key trait ,and unique selling proposition or will Delhi 6 / Chandni Chowk replace it ?

To me , Delhi is a delightful and an unforgettable place ,which i love dearly the same way I love my Chennai (not jus for the landmarks but for several personal reasons :) , and I jus hope the history lives on for generations to come.

Jai Ho , Rahman !

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:20:00 +0000

The moment has arrived . A moment to cherish, relish and revel upon.
A moment to savor , and feel thankful to all the gods.
A moment to squeal in joy and jubilation , to see Rahman’s pic splashed across all the papers in the country in almost every single page, with people pouring in with their wishes and love for this extraordinary , yet simple man.

For those who worship him as God , and be proudly called as Rahmaniacs like me , I must admit this is the moment we have all been waiting for .An award not to prove his greatness ,
but merely a statement to tell the world of his existence and to show them that we can beat them in their own field.

As far as Rahman is concerned, the award may not be probably for Slumdog , but just an award to prove to the world ,that this is just one entry point, to show them that we can redefine your music, in your own way .

It s a pity though , that some of Rahman’s brillaing masterpieces have gone unnoticed completely , esp in the North , since them being Tamil songs. Beginning from 1990 with Roja, until 2001 , Rahman’s Tamil –Hindi songs ratio was almost 80 – 20 , and considering that fact , it is still a sad state to see that barely, only one or two songs appear in his all time Top 10 list.

So considering that fact that most of his songs haven’t been recognized in his own country , it surely will be a long time ,for the global music arena to take notice of him , and his music. So the Oscar has given that first step ,, not just in the US , but within our country , to take pride in his work, and learning to appreciate all his compositions , irrespective of the language in which it is composed.

The two Oscars certainly came as a big surprise to a large section of the audience, for critics and even certain “Rahmaniacs” admit, Slumdog Millionaire may not have been one of his best compositions , as compared to his earlier tracks like Roja, Bombay , Dil Se etc.
Yet, as luck would have it , Rahman broke into the Hollywood spectrum in music ,through this movie , and gave a completely fresh perspective on English film music with 13 spell binding tracks

As a pride owner of the complete collection of Rahman’s albums , in all languages , I have prepared my very own Rahman Top 20 and here it goes

1. Maa Tujhe Salam - Vande Maataram
2. Kathal Rojave (Roja Jaane Mann) - Roja
3. Munbe Vaa - Sillunu oru Kathal
4. Kannathil Muthamittal - Kannathil Muthamittal
5. Vellai Pookal - Kannathil Muthamittal
6. Kaiyil Mithakkum - Rathchakan
7. Tere Bina - Guru
8. Dil Se Re - Dil Se
9. Arziyan - Delhi 6
10. Ella Pughazhum Iraivanukke - Azhagiya Thamizh Magan
11. Chale Chalo - Lagaan
12. Anbae Anbae - Jeans
13. Katre En Vasal - Rhythm
14. Vennilave - Minsara Kanavu
15. Snehidane - Alaipayudhe
16. Thamizha Thamizha (Hindustani) - Roja
17. Pathshaala - RDB
18. Anbe Aruyire - Anbe Aruyire
19. Thenmettu Paruva Katru Karuthamma
20. Jashn - E Bahara - Jodhaa Akbar

Long Live A.R.Rahman and his eternal music !

JAI HO !!
Is it Grammy the next time for our "thala" ?

Pub tu toh Gaya

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:54:00 +0000

Source : Outlook India

Cricket's New Rule

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:53:00 +0000

Cricket , over the past has seen numerous changes , owing to the rising decline of the game's popularity and revolution in technology.
If it was tennis , that was first caught up with the technology , which introduced three challenges per set , against the umpire's decision , its now cricket which has caught the fever.

The ICC has confirmed that the ongoing trial of the umpire decision review system will afford each side two unsuccessful reviews per innings

The Rule reads as follows :

"With this change, the system will see the fielding and batting side allowed two unsuccessful appeals to the umpire per innings to change a decision if it is perceived to have been incorrect.

The rest of the playing conditions for this trial remain unchanged. The appeals can be made only by the batsman in receipt of the umpire’s original decision or the captain of the fielding side, in both cases by the player making a "T” sign with both forearms at shoulder height.

The on-field umpire will consult with the third umpire, who will review available television coverage of the incident before relaying fact-based information back to his colleague.
The on-field umpire will then deliver his decision either by raising his finger to indicate “out” or by crossing his hands in a horizontal position side to side in front and above his waist three times – as per a “safe” decision by an official in baseball.
If it is different to his original decision, the umpire will touch both shoulders, each with the opposition hand, to revoke the previous signal and then make a fresh signal as per the revised decision"
(Source : ICC)

With the growing on-field tension and disappointment by the players for wrong decisions has cuaght the eye of the ICC , and have passed on the buck to the third umpire for an added responsibility - Challenging the field umpire's decision and reverting them if proved to be wrong.

Is technology really a menace in such situations for being responsible of cricket losing it's "personal " touch of the onfield umpiring ?
Or can the game still hold on to its glamour and excitemnt , like football ,which still remains the coveted sport despite having its innumerous wrong "handball / penalty decisions ?

The war between Technology Vs Human is on , and this time the battle is on the grass !

Inaugural Address of President Barack H. Obama

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:18:00 +0000

Download Barack Obama's Speech ( .Doc Format)

Download the entire set of INAUGURAL ADDRESSES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES

A Captain's Knock ! Or was he Knocked out ?

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:28:00 +0000

One of my first posts in the blog was on the historic One day International played between Australia and South Africa in Johannesburg , where South Africa chased down a record total of 434 in 50 overs
Several years later, history came quite close to repeat itself.. But this time , the other team, or rather would say , the best team won in the end

The feud ,competition and rivalry between these two teams is not yet over , which is quite evident from the recently concluded test series in Australia.
Despite the fact that , South Africa won the first two tests by luck and won the series, the third and final test match was not an easy affair.

5 days , 450 grueling overs , a broken test wicket at the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground), an injured captain with a broken hand , coming out to bat at No.11 (as compared to him coming opening) , a controversial catch claimed by the Australian captain , this match had seen everything cricket had to offer in one of its finest forms of the game , Test Cricket

Ricky Ponting, the most resilient and daring captain of the Australian cricket team , allowed the visitors to chase a target of just 367 with more than a day's play left , by declaring so early .. Despite knowing fully well , that SA had won the previous match by chasing a mammoth target , Ponting dared them to achieve the impossible yet again.
Sports fans and critics would have called him a foolish person to declare early ,esp when SA had reached 67 for the loss of just one wicket at Stumps Day 4. Yet Ponting silenced them all and proved why he is still the best captain around , with his intent of going for a kill rather than play for a draw

The match extending to the last 3 overs of the fifth day's play and still the result of the test match was quite indecisive with both possibilities of a OZ win or a draw was laid open..
120 runs to win , and one wicket in hand (that being the SA captain , Graeme Smith, who had earlier walked out on a retired hurt ,after an express delivery from Mitchell Johnson broke his left hand,and showed no signs of coming to bat again)
With less than two overs to going the final day , Graeme Smith walked on to the pitch , with a standing ovation from the crowd , jus to bat through the final 15 odd deliveries to draw the match. But though , his stumps were rooted from the ground by the same Johnson , with just 10 balls left in the match.

The match would have won by the Aussies , and the series captured by the South Africans , yet at the end of this magnificent 3 weeks of test matches , it just shows to prove why Test Cricket is still and will ever be the best the game can offer.

5 days of intense and grueling cricketing action in fading lights and broken pitches , brings about a sheen,an efficiency and a class in these players that ODI or a T20 can never dream to display .

Fours and Sixes can show you who has more power , but the true test of character comes out only when you battle out an entire day's play in a test match..

That's why , they still call Dravid, "The Wall" !

The Mood Consultant

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:25:00 +0000

Godrej , the furniture and security equipment company , has come up with a new initiative in its chain of (home and office furniture interior solution) stores,"Godrej Interio"

"The concept is called Mood Consulting ,whereby the store draws upon the emotional element within the shopper to help him ‘create the mood’, which translates into product selection.On entering the store, expert Lifespace Mood Consultants personally assist the shopper with several Moodspace tools to come closer to 'sensing' the eventual desired decor at the home", quotes Mr Shyam Motwani, Vice-President and Business Head, Godrej Lifespace

One quick visit to the nearest Interio store dispels the myth behind the concept and to confirm my beliefs : the concept is only a dream and never a reality.

The aesthetically decorated Interio store is a classic example of Indian retailing , which portrays clearly how several premium lifestyle stores in the country are being ruined and run in such pathetic condition due to a poor customer service despite its classy interior,ambience and design

The 10000+ sq.ft Godrej Interio store was run by just 2 store employees on a Saturday evening and was quite interested in filling their accounts and rather seemed quite oblivious to any help sought from the customers present. Upon enquiring for a computer furniture ,the store executive , visibly displeased from being disturbed in his work, after much deliberation,protruded a "fancy ,colorful" Godrej catalogue . He further added that they didnt have stock of any computer furniture and should choose only from the catalogue.

Apparently he seemed to fail to understand that the concept of retailing and the reason to build the entire store in the first place is to provide the shopper the "touch and feel" experience , rather than just browse a catalogue ,which one can see online itself.

During my exit , I'd noticed a rather strange ,large certificate hung on the wall , which read

"This certificate is to prove that all store executives of Godrej have been professionally trained to become "mood consultants" " .

When asked if that was true , the store executive with a smirk on his face replied "Yeah rite !"

Godrej might have taken the concept from the US / UK , but I presume they obviously didnt realize, "What works in the US doesnt necessarily work in India and vice versa"

Some people say , "certain things are much better if left in its original place" and it turns out to be very true in this case !

I rest my case !

A fitting tribute !

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:40:00 +0000

From Niche to Mass Market ? Where do u want to be?

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:59:00 +0000

In this media frenzied world , it is quite important for every brand to understand where it currently stands , what is its current positioning and where the brand should be seen according to its identity,values and characteristics
For example , A premium and an exclusive brand cannot afford to advertise in a mass market , which ultimately leads to several repercussions .
First it loses its target customers , the brand values are diluted and the core purpose of the brand and what it stands for is defeated.

This post is actually based on an interesting incident from the book, Accidental Branding I read recently read , and incidentally based on my previous post on Product Placement .

It talks about , how a small TV serial episode managed to change a niche and an exclusive brand into a mass market brand and led it into its major crash.
Seinfeld ,one of America's popular sitcoms , had a tie-in with J.Peterman ,a designer brand for a product placement in an episode

The scene goes like this :

[On rainy street at night]

Elaine: (sob sob) (bumps into man with an umbrella) …

I don't even know where I'm going.

Peterman: That's the best way to get someplace you've never been.

Elaine: yes, (sob) I suppose, …

Peterman: Have you been crying?

Elaine: Yes, (sob) you see this (sob) woman, this manicurist,…

Peterman: Oh no, that doesn’t matter now. That's a very nice jacket.

Elaine: Uh, (sob) thanks.

Peterman: Very soft, huge button flaps, cargo pockets, draw string waist, deep biswing vents in the back perfect for jumping into a gondola.

Elaine: How do you know all that?

Peterman: That's my coat.

Elaine: You mean..?

Peterman: Yes, I'm J. Peterman.

J.Peterman was an exclusive brand sold only through catalogues sent to a few selected people.People considered the brand to be a premium and far differentiated from other brands.

But after the episode , millions of them watched it and enquired about the J.Peterman brand of clothes. The "catalog only" model didn't work out anymore , and he was forced to sell retail.

The sales grew rapidly thus paving way for more expansion across the United States.

The expansion forced the J.Peterman brand to lose its "Exclusivity" tag and hence became a mass market brand . Incidentally for that episode, it was said Seinfeld and Peterman himself
wrote the script

He wrote the script for his own fall ! What an irony

DOWNLOAD THE EPISODE HERE :

Episode - Part 1

Episode Part 2

The Business Plan Workbook

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:21:00 +0000

The Business Plan Workbook: The Definitive Guide to Researching, Writing up and Presenting a Winning Plan

Publisher: Kogan Page | Pages: 416 | 2008-07-28 | ISBN 0749452315 | PDF | 2 MB

Written for entrepreneurs, executives, and students, The Business Plan Workbook is a guide to all aspects of business planning. Based on methodology developed at the Cranfield School of Management and using successful real-life business plans, The Business Plan Workbook brings together the process and procedures required to produce that persuasive plan. The case examples in this edition have been updated and include a cross-section of businesses at various stages in their development.

Download E-Book

Alternate Download link (Rapidshare)

Indian Railways : Have they really embraced the Web ?

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:02:00 +0000

Indian Railways is one of the biggest organizations in the world and holds the record for the maximum no of employees employed under them. They have been quick to adopt changes, forecast demand in rail services and has managed to deliver constantly and moved on along with the times

Yet, their initiative to join the Internet bandwagon in providing Ticketing services and online information on trains may not be actually successful , compared to their forecasts and expectations.
The above failure is attributed to several reasons ,discussed below

IRCTC(Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation) charges a service charge of Rs.40/- per ticket in case of Second Class and Sleeper Class tickets and Rs.60/- per ticket in case of tickets of other classes , for booking online.

The Rs.40 charge may not be a big deal ,but the concept of shelling out more to book online is frustrating , when we are actually saving transaction ,labour costs.Even the cost of printing the ticket is ours.

When all firms are encouraging their customers to perform transactions online , to save from overhead costs,employee costs,costs incurred in physical locations etc , IRCTC is charging more when one books online.

Citibank actually introduced a scheme called "Suvidha" where it charged customers around Rs.150 evertyime they came to the bank to do a transaction and not online.
Similarly private airlines such as Jet or Kingfisher offers a far better deal online rather than booking directly in an office.
Railways has to understand that , when one books online it actually means , less crowd in booking offices, considerable less human resource required and subsequently cost per passenger comes down considerably which thereby increases profits

Failure to integrate their reservation site and booking site. People usually log into southernrailways.org or www.indianrail.gov.in to check for availability and IRCTC.co.in separately to book the tickets . Indian Railways must integrate the sites , and provide an option for booking a ticket and linking back to the IRCTC website directly in that same page ,if the corresponding ticket is available. They may be two different departments / entities in the organization , yet it is a must to bring them together to increase traffic

The southern railway and the Indian Railways website looks like a horrible mess ,with huge banner ads and matrimonial ads (even airline ads, which is a direct competition) and makes it look like a cheaply hosted website run by a small firm , and definitely not look like that of a 5000 crore turnover Govt Organization

Server capcity and traffic handling capability of the Indian Railways website is extremely poor , with the server going offline several times a week . 40 % of the time , it shows a network or a database error.

The "search for Information " process to search train names, schedules or timings can be quite a difficult task for novice users. Only those people who are aware of the "string and substring search" concepts , and actually knows the mechanism of the search may find their required information . If the whole string is entered with a slightly different spelling , it shows an error or "No records found" msg, to indicate No such train exists ,and does not offer any alternative trains or suggest some other info .

Their "Spot your Train" feature, which indicates the exact position of any currently running training across South India is a brilliant concept (similar to the "track your flight feature in International flights"). Yet it has failed quite considerably with less support , and poor marketing . In a quick dipstick survey it was found that 90 % was unaware of any such feature in the Southern railway website.

If they could eliminate these errors ,and channelise their resources ,byr providing other services too, I guess they can reap in huge success and even convert some of the air travellers ,including foreign tourists to rail travel.

Probably they have to position their service offering , not as "just a train journey" but as an "experience" to savour

P.S - The last line was actually inspired from a true incident . The last time i travelled in a Shatabdi Express , the TTE actually loudly greeted all their passengers , like an air hostess and went and wished everyone a nice journey, personally

Rasmussen

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 08:45:00 +0000

In the wake of the financial meltdown across the globe, the need for higher education is on the rise , and becoming critically important . Top Universities in USA are flooded with applications from students from all parts of the world.The skills required to make oneself successful in the work place, but also to gain an effective support system that will help long after graduation is important

After looking through several colleges, I happened to find Rasmussen College. Rasmussen College, Inc. is a premier provider of online and on-campus education serving students through multiple campuses in the Midwest and Southeast in the US and also 12 virtual campuses operated by its Deltak division.

Rasmussen offers students a broad range of quality programs ranging from certificate to Masters in nine educational departments and serves more than 7,000 students in fifty-states and five-countries

Rasmussen College Online offers over 35 online degrees that you can complete entirely online. Or, you can take a combination of on-campus and online courses to complete your degree. Some of them include an online degree in accounting and a certified public accountants and degrees. Among the several programs offered ,their key course is the online degree in accounting ,which offers a course to learn to manage the finances of small businesses, corporate offices, financial institutions . It also ncludes multiple facets of Accounting practices, including Corporate Fraud Analysis ,Governmental and Not-for-Profit Accounting ,Managerial Accounting ,Money and Banking Organizational Behavior Analysis ,Operations Management ,Strategic Management etc. and also elective courses that tailors to the education of our interests and career goals.They also offer a specialized online masters degree under several verticals such as Accounting , Business Management ,Crime Management, Digital Design and Advertising , Health Care/ Nursing and so on.
Rasmussen College also offers Placement Assistance while you’re a student at Rasmussen College .

"The Bond" Marketing

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:00:00 +0000

The recently released "Quantum of Solace" has been touted as the "the next golden age of Bond movies" , with a fast paced ,realistic and a much "humane" movie . Starting from where it left, it has certainly accepted to be a far better movie compared to Casino Royale , with Daniel Craig delivering a powerful performance in the movie with his solid fist fights and chase sequences.

Yet, the movie seems to be missing on a load of factors , the usual Bond fan might expect to see.
For starters , the soundtrack of the movie ,"Another way to die", by Alicia Keyes is a major letdown , especially for a "Bond song" .Who could ever forget the 007 song composed by Moby for all those Pierce Brosnan movies ?

The next major factor that might affect the movie is the "In-film" Product Placement.
Product Placement esp in films , TV serials and games has been on a considerable rise the past years , with more corporate tie-ups and sponsorship deals between the production houses and the corporate companies and media agencies.

A product placement is a type of marketing/advertising , where corporate companies make a deal with the producers ,to make sure their brand /product advertisement appears on the movie in an indirect way , and follows a non disclosure policy

Some of the recent examples for Product placements that I have observed include :

Lage Raho Munnabhai (Hindi)- WorldSpace Radio
Life in a Metro(Hindi) - Shaadi.com
Fashion(Hindi) - Several fashion brands including Vogue,Lakme etc.
Chandramukhi (Tamil) - Tata Indicom

Hollywood :
Cast Away - Fed Ex
Devil Wears Prada - Vogue,Cosmopolitan, Star Bucks etc.
Minorty Report - GAP, Coca Cola
The Island - Microsoft
I-Robot - Converse

A James Bond movie particularly is quite renowned for introducing a whole new range of car models from famous brands , esp from the likes of BMW , Aston Martin, Volkswagen,Ford etc
This movie has certainly ain't been spared , with a whole new range of product placements throughout the movie . The audience were more tuned in identifying the brand names in cars,cell phones, alcohol,laptops,watches etc, rather than being absorbed in the thrilling chases and fights.

According to IMDB , the product placements and brand integrations for this movie include :

Aston Martin DBS,Alfa Romeo and the Ford Motor Company including vehicle makes Volvo, Range Rover, and the new Ka
Smirnoff Vodka, Bollinger Champagne,Heineken Pilsener Beer
Sony Electronics & Sony Ericsson cell phones including the Titanium Silver Edition C902 Cyber-shot Phone;
Virgin Atlantic Airlines
Omega SA Watches, James Bond wears the Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M; Swatch etc..

I'm sure its a dream run for marketers and advertisers for their brands to be featured in a James Bond movie,which will be watched by millions of people across the world , but when it comes to the average moviegoer , I guess they'd prefer to watch an "original" movie rather than a "sponsored" brand movie.

So next time , in a movie ,the hero drinks a "Starbucks" coffee rather than just a coffee , you know what it is !

To Change or Not to Change !

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:09:00 +0000

We belong to a society , which has managed to build a closed surrounding, that resists change in any form. We desist moving into a new city or neighborhood , desist moving away from familiar groups ,desist moving into a new job or workplace,desist coming out of our personal space,afraid of breaking open the wall we have built all these years & fear of meeting someone for the first time and try including them in our group . We are cast into a particular form and shape and want to stay in that state eternally, meanwhile shaping others too in the process.
We expect people to behave in a particular fashion with us , and mold them according to our likes and dislikes.

We hate and despise new rules and legislation brought out in our society, schools, colleges, workplace and the country itself. We do not like someone to dictate terms on how do we do things.We want to do it in the same way we have been doing all along. We take a considerable time in adapting ourself to a particular habitat and its tough to force upon ourselves a new change , even if its meant for the positive side.How many times you have given this quizzical look , when your friends remark , "you have changed" , and retaliate saying "Definitely No". What better pride can you display than to say "I havent changed a bit. I'm just the same"

Dr.Meredith , in Grey's Anatomy says "

Change. We don't like it. We fear it, but we can't stop it from coming. We either adapt to change or we get left behind. It hurts to grow, anybody who tells you it doesn't is lying, but here's the truth sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same. And sometimes, oh, sometimes change is good. Sometimes change is everything.

This new "change" eventually raises a lot of questions to question the validity of change and do we really need to change?
How often do we find ourselves in a situation asking the inevitable "IF ? " question .
"If I did that , If I had said that, If i had known that information, If I had told him the truth , If I hadnt done that , If I had managed to reach in time " , the list is endless.Only to later realize , "If" is just nothing but a two letter word for futility.You cant do anything about.
If one has to change ,it has to be for the future and not for what he has been in the past.

As Sidney Sheldon quotes " Future is like clay. It has to be molded day by day. Past is like a bedrock stone.It is immutable"

Even travelers and globe trotters , who has seen most parts of the world , actually discover life and find solace only in their own homes, no matter where it is or how small it is .
They may need a break , yet find their own feet only within the confines of their little home.

The line from Wayne's world summarises everything : We Fear Change

Yet , the same "Change" interestingly has been responsible in deciding whos the most powerful man in the world.
Barack Obama ,the first black president of the United States has successfully shown,what "Change" can do - to win a presidency , by assuring people , that Change is good, and it is there in the offing !

Ma Man !

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:46:00 +0000

Is there a single Ferrari fan on earth who wouldnt have shed a sympathetic tear for Massa ?

Who in the world would have thought , that the F1 championship title would have been decided in the last corner in the last lap of the final race of the season , which actually leads us to the question, Who was the best man of the race ?

Was it Felipe Massa who drove an impeccable race , leading it from start to finish. Or is it Lewis Hamilton , who stole a championship , with the help of Timo Glock, who "incidentally" had a Tire Temperature problem causing him to slow down and give way to Lewis .

Was it the man who pounded his heart with his fist,lifted the trophy and showed the thumbs up to the millions of Ferrari Fans across the world , when he knew he lost a championship by one point or the man who claimed his maiden championship with a defiant aggression and domination.

The Cloud Battle - Windows Azure

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:02:00 +0000

Microsoft has released a new "cloud" computing service , where the data and the application will be stored in the giant data centers across the world , and not in the user's system
The chief aim of the software is to allow developers to build new applications which will live on the internet, rather than on their own computers , so that it can be accessed anywhere, from any device.

"Cloud Computing"

Several companies with massive data centers "rent" their space to other businesses who wants to build rapidly growing online applications without needing to invest in more servers,when the traffic expands
For personal users , their data and many of the applications they use could be stored online "in the cloud, which can be accessed from anywhere across the globe

Interestingly , Amazon and Google has already been in the cloud computing business, where they rent out their data centers for developing online applications for social networking sites, mobile phones, and E-Commerce transactions
Amazon created the model with its "Elastic Cloud Service" , while Google quickly adopted it and created a whole different suite of programs for online advertising and search. One of the notable applications was Google Docs, where people can create Spreadsheets and Documents online and store it in the Google server , which can be accessed anywhere anytime.

Microsoft was quoted saying

"Our customers still want to be able to choose to have their software offline, on their own computers, as well as online in the web cloud"

"We believe deeply in on-premises software and we believe deeply in this new world of software in the cloud," said Ray Ozzie.

Several critics and investors been constantly criticizing Microsoft for its failure to embrace the internet when it actually exploded, when companies like Google and Yahoo rose to fame and reaped billions in profits .
Will this be a new strategic paradigm shift for Microsoft to fight the competition and can they succeed? Lets wait and watch !

Source : Microsoft

Personalised Car Registrations

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 02:40:00 +0000

Ever wondered having a fancy number , with a stylish number plate for ur car ? Browsed countless designs and yet returned unsatisfied?

With this motto of offering a personalised service in providing number plates, Northumbria Numbers was established in 1995 in the Border County of Northumberland also known as "The Secret Kingdom" .Northumbria Numbers offers the best service in the Cherished Numbers business , with a massive selection of private number plates .

One can search for ageless car registrations, prefix type personalised number plates and current style number plates and design it according to his car and type .One can also choose from Car Manufacturer number plates, Personal number plates and Professional number plates .
These Personalised number plates come at a wide variety of styles and price ranges.
So go ahead and choose one now !

Microsoft beats profits forecast

hkmurali@gmail.com (Karthik Murali) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:55:00 +0000

US software giant Microsoft has posted profits and sales figures well above analysts' expectations.

The firm made a $4.37bn profit during the first three months of its financial year, up from $4.29bn a year ago, while turnover rose 9% to $15.06bn.

Finance boss Chris Liddell said Microsoft had demonstrated the strength and diversity of its business model "in a challenging economic environment".

However, the company also warned that during the next three months it was unlikely to meet the estimates of Wall Street analysts because of the economic slowdown.

(Source : BBC)