Kathir Vel

Facebook Instructs me to “Help a Friend” – Consider it done, Sir!

Kathir 'Sid' Vel — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:00:37 +0000

What’s wrong with Facebook!? I log into my page and see this on the right hand side menu.

I accept and understand that Facebook is a free service and no one is forcing me to use it, but the Help a Friend and Reach Out to Say Hi features sound a bit too strong. Help a Friend, in need of what? Friends!? Weird.

Do we control social media or does social media control us? Looks like social media dictates what we should be doing. Facebook used to have some stronger message like ‘…you should suggest friends for your new friend…’. Glad they changed it to something less strong. Hail Facebook! :)

Mobile Text Scam – Claim 3750 for the Accident You Had

Kathir 'Sid' Vel — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:39:10 +0000

I received an interesting text in the morning. The text was sent from +447747436026. Following was the message :-

FREEMSG: Our records indicate you may be entitled to 3750 pounds for the accident you had. To claim for free reply with YES to this msg. To opt out text STOP.

Clearly, I haven’t had any accident for years, and I knew the message was a bait. 077 numbers are charged as premium rate numbers by the Three network and some scamster was trying to get people to respond. The moment you send a response, you are hooked into constant messages and charges. You’ll have to send a txt message with STOP to get out of this con.

I post this here so that others might benefit from the knowledge. Imagine, someone who had an accident recently gets this text message? If they were probably expecting a call from their insurance company or accident claims solicitors, they might respond to this text. Even if a tiny percentage of the mobile users respond to this scam, the scamsters would have hit a jackpot!

Never respond to any such text messages, emails, or even phone calls. There is another scam where someone calls you from a number and cuts the call instantly. When you call back, the number is forwarded through a premium rate phone number you will be paying for listening to some rubbish tape playing on the other end.

If anyone’s got similar experiences, please share.

Image Source : Ken Banks

3 Idiots – Virus, Chatur, and Rancho give life to a Munnabhai remake

Kathir 'Sid' Vel — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 12:33:06 +0000

Years ago, Munnabhai MBBS was a smash hit and emerged as a wholesome entertainer. The film’s director Rajkumar Hirani became a trusted name for good cinema. Munnabhai 2, though not as succulent as it’s predecessor, managed to retain the qualities of honest, clean, and enjoyable movie experience. Now with 3 Idiots, the director has hardened the fact that cinema is all about money and retaining the formula is best for business and the audience.

3 Idiots (based on the core idea of Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone) explores the subtle nuances of what most Indian students endure through their college life – marks, professors, hostels, ragging, family, money, competition, and finally the job interview. The screenplay is well written and there is a stash of broad laughs. Boman Irani, Amir Khan, and new comer Omi Vaidya stand out as the real stars of the movie and without even one of them, the movie would be a big let down.

Although the film is enjoyable and puts a smile on the viewer’s face or tears in their eyes, there are many sequences that could have been totally cut out. The ragging sequence (bit gross for Raju’s style), suicide student, giving birth to the baby, Kareena’s wedding, the real Rancho, and many other sub-plots do nothing more than add puff to bloat the screen time.

The producers and director have reused the Munnabhai MBBS blue print, converted the medical college into an engineering college, slightly modified the plot, and roped in Amir Khan to sell this movie to the audience. Boman Irani repeats Dr. Asthana’s role, but with a different makeup. Sharman Joshi takes the role of the suicide kid. Kareena replaces Gracy Singh, as the daughter of Boman Irani and a budding doctor. Omi dons the role of the Nerd Swami. Jaadu Ki Jhappi is now Aal Izz Well.

Amidst a band wagon of bad and weak Hindi films, 3 Idiots comes as a saving grace!

Avatar – Forgive the lack of Originality, for Creativity knows no bounds

Kathir 'Sid' Vel — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:02:04 +0000

First : The praises
Brilliant! Breakthrough in digital film making! Many thanks for funding and experimenting with the technology used in this film, now we can finally get rid of all our egoistic actors. “Epic”, says a friend of mine, sure it is for those who can appreciate the technology behind it.

Second : The Critic (with a grin on my face)
I like to talk about the films that I watch. Some films are not even worth getting a mention. A critic’s mind is built upon life experiences and film knowledge that he / her possesses. For example, when I claim that Avatar’s recurring theme music is the same one that James Horner played in Enemy at the Gates (ref. The Tractor Factory, at 0:18), you’ll know I know what I am talking about.

I was in awe when another friend of mine pointed out to me that Avatar’s Pandora is a future version of Disney’s Atlantis. He was smart to point out how in the later, mercenaries go to grab the Heart from the people of Atlantis.

While watching Avatar, there are so many moments when you feel like, “Haven’t I seen the same in some other film?” It’s just the visual effects that make the movie, enjoyable. Even though the Na’vi language’s vocabulary, Pandora’s layout map, its variety of species/flora/fauna, and magnificence are in no way close to Lord of the Rings, I have to make special mention of the amount of creative input that must have gone into the making of this film!

Third : Why do most people claim this film to be an EPIC?
These are people who are intensely targeted by smart brained marketers and advertisers. Those of you who know the Bollywood industry would know better. The trick to box office success is to sell the idea that the movie is an awesome piece of art, even before the film is done with shooting. That’s how studios get funding!

Even before you realise it, you are sipping out of Avatar labelled soft drink cans, watching the new sneak peeks and trailers over and over again, going through all visual effects magazines and blogs to find more about the technology they have used, and through all these clever strategies that the studio executives have injected into your social life, you have sold the film’s success onto yourself. All that’s needed is for the film to be mediocre enough to make you paint that last star on your review.

Fourth : Casting and Characters
James Cameron has always given life to the lesser known actors by pitting them in powerful roles that are supported by some time tested veterans. Titanic saw the rise to fame of Leonardo and Kate Winslet, while the likes of Kathy Bates, Bill Paxton, and Bernard Hill supported to maintain the balance of the cast. Sadly, the only saving grace for Avatar comes in the form of Dr. Grace (aptly named) played by Sigourney Weaver.

Epic movies require a cast that the audience can relate with, whereas the viewers of Avatar were left to the mercy of one-dimensional characters in a three-dimensional movie! If you are expecting a Jack being supported by Molly Brown or Jack saving Rose moment, there is nothing of that sort that Avatar would offer.

Finale!
Though the review sounds like I hated the movie Avatar, the truth is, I liked it. I just liked it and didn’t love it. Movies like Gladiator, LOTR, and Saving Private Ryan can be certified as Epics. They shake-up the audience while the credits roll up. Avatar, fails at it.

Image from Avatar’s Flickr stream

UK Economy – Update by Thorsten Fischer (Senior RBS Economist)

Kathir 'Sid' Vel — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:26:43 +0000

While speaking at the MELCC (Midlothian and East Lothian Chamber of Commerce) Annual Awards Event, Thorsten Fischer (Senior Economist at Royal Bank of Scotland) expressed his personal views on the current economic climate and also answered a few questions posed by local businesses. One would assume that the representative of a failed bank would try to provide optimistic views and gain the trust of the crowd, instead Dr. Fischer was painting a dark and gloomy picture of the current and future economic condition of UK.

Thorsten Fischer joined RBS in October 2005 as a Senior Economic Adviser. An applied micro-economist, who has published in peer-reviewed economic journals, his areas of specialisation include natural resources, environmental issues and transportation. Thorsten is also interested in risk management (he is a certified Financial Risk Manager), public policy and regulation. He regularly presents to internal and external audiences. After gaining a first diploma in business administration and economics from Osnabrück University in Germany, Thorsten left his home country to earn a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, where he also worked as an instructor of economics and international business. After graduation, he spent five years at an independent economic consultancy in Pennsylvania.

Source RBS website

Though Dr. Fischer wasn’t giving exciting news such as UK coming out of the recession, the crowd welcomed his honest opinions. That’s what the businesses were wanting to hear, and not just words of empty hope that is propagated by the ruling party. Highlights of Thorsten Fischer’s speech were

It is going to take 3 to 4 years before our economy returns back to boom time.
Can’t really forecast exchange rates, but Sterling might take about 6 years to recover against Euro.
Most traders are optimistic and believe that there will be a V-shaped recovery. Sadly, it will not happen. There are various other market and economic forces that will prevent the steep climb.
There will be high inflation in 3 years when liquidity gets back to normal.
Climate Change Targets? Banks and the government are aware of the need, but difficult to account for in the current tough economic scenario.
Opportunity for export will increase as Euro zone can afford to pay for products from the UK.

Yes, the speech wasn’t an upbeat one, but Dr. Fischer wanted local businesses to be aware of the reality of the economic forecast. He was asking businesses to plan their future and current developments based on hard facts.

Later while networking over dinner, Thorsten Fischer was asked if the return of the 17.5% VAT would affect buyer behaviour once again. Dr. Fischer said it might not affect FMCG retailers but might affect service providers and retailers of big-ticket items.

For a recent economic insight guide published by RBS, follow the link.

Photo by Rafael Matsunaga

M&S Xmas Ad – Life on Mars’ Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) gets excited seeing Noemie Lenoir wearing underwear

Kathir 'Sid' Vel — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:50:26 +0000

Did anyone see the Christmas advertisement by Marks and Spencer, this year? The commercial is a well produced (£10m) piece and stars Stephen Fry, Twiggy, Myleene Class, Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders, and James Nesbitt. The advertising campaign was put together by RKCR/Y&R, a London based full service agency.

Philip Glenister is shown in a bar and he says, “Oh come on, it’s Christmas… That girl prancing around in her underwear.” The advert cuts to French model Noemie Lenoir, wearing a bra and knickers, jumping around the woods! Quite unnecessary, but come on, every brand wants to show some skin and grab consumer attention. I guess it was the tone of delivery and the very line that makes the advert the subject of hot debate.

I watched the above mentioned commercial on the big screen and loved it. Even though it looked beaufitul and full of festive spirit, the lingerie shot shook me up. I was thinking, why this shot!? The advert was cute and friendly, and then comes this girl jumping around in her bra and knickers. What I didn’t realise was, even other people felt the same way. In any case, I think it was unnecessary to complain about the advertisement to the Advertising Standards Association (ASA).

Nintendo Wii & DS – Ant & Dec (Saturday Night Takeaway) Brain Train London Cabbies

Kathir 'Sid' Vel — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:25:05 +0000

Do you know how London cabbies learn to count the change? Nintendo DS Brain Training helps the London Cabbies with math and teaches them to count! Thanks Ant and Dec, for letting us know! Yet another contrived advertisement from Nintendo DS/Wii staring ITV’s own, Ant and Dec. Click here for the first commercial.

Nintendo’s advertising campaigns are handled by Karmarama, a leading UK agency. Smart campaigns? Yes, but somewhat contrived. Consumers are not always stupid and they do not always eat the grass that agencies dump in front of them. Nintendo is trying to discuss the following issues through their advertising strategy.

Who says Nintendo can distract you from your professional career? Nintendo helps the cab driver with math and they are able to give better change! What were they doing before Nintendo DS was first made? Maybe they were giving us the wrong change all the time! They guy says, “We’re dealing with figures all day long.” I don’t think I’ll go get a job in investment banking hoping that a Nintendo DS will help me count! :)
Yes, don’t forget the family! In modern-day advertising, families need to be shown having time together. Thank the Nintendo, it has brought the cab driver’s family together! Nintendo seems to have succeeded at what religion is failing – family getting together. “To be honest, we all sit down and it brings us all together,” says the cabbie.
You better have a brain score. What? I am from a sane group, mate. I don’t need a brain score to prove my skills.

The Nintendo DS/Wii ads are working well for the brand and they are making more commercials. There is one where Ant & Dec go to a Weight Watchers meeting and make sexual gestures. Whatever maybe, Nintendo is surely selling more consoles than the rest. I know of a friend who recently got a console and said, “My Nintendo Wii is the best thing I’ve ever bought in my life!” That’s some real serious thing, after about 25 years of living on Earth.

Ant and Dec who host the popular show, Britain’s Got Talent have recently revealed a new show that’s coming soon – “Push The Button”. Anthony McPartlin (33) and Declan Donnelly (34) have taken a 10% pay cut and extended their contract with ITV for another two years. They have brought in some popularity for ITV’s shows and advertising revenue. ITV is paying £20 million to keep the duo. It’s the going rate for such stars it seems! At least, they come cheaper than Jonathan Ross who gets paid £18 million to spill rubbish over the respected British Broadcasting Network (BBC).

Google’s Secrets Revealed – Do it yourself Insights, Maps, Adwords, and Analytics

Kathir 'Sid' Vel — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:26:28 +0000

Consumer behaviour is heavily influenced by digital technologies, with 80% of online shoppers wanting to compare prices and 17p of every Sterling Pound being spent over the internet. Online spending is expected to rise to 50p for every Sterling Pound. “Grab hold of the opportunities in the online marketplace and grow your business”, says Andy Barke (Industry Head), Satyan Joshi (Product Specialist), and Gilli Goodman (Product Specialist) from Google.

Google’s Adwords marketing team was in Edinburgh, to talk to local businesses about the advantages that Google can provide to those wanting to trade online. The conference hall at the City Chamber (High Street, Royal Mile) was filled with representatives from local businesses. The event was organised by the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and the Business Gateway (Scottish Enterprise)

Start thinking about exporting to the EU zone
Andy Barke commented that the UK’s electronic commerce market is at its mature phase and the EU zone is warming up to online shopping carts. With the value of the Pound weak against the Euro, businesses in the EU zone will now afford more to import to EU from the UK. “UK businesses should consider export to EU” , he says. Google provides an export advisory tool at the following link http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/exportadviser. This export advisor and market value calculator is at its beta stage and partnered with Applied Language, HSBC, Royal Mail, UK Trade and Investment, The Institute of Export, and Alibaba.com.

How can Google help me?
Google offers a wide range of free and inexpensive tools that can help businesses compete in the ever changing market. Andy says, “Your business has to be insightful, agile, and fast”. The following free tools from Google are worth a try.

Google Insights : http://www.google.com/insights/search/ (Research tool to help find what your target market is looking/searching for)
Google Local Business: http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter (Promote your business on the internet)
Google Analytics: http://www.google.com/analytics (Research and understand your website visitors and their behaviour over your web pages)

Pay for Adwords and you will benefit from it
While Google is being very nice to us by offering so much for free, they ask us to spend just a little in return. Adwords is Google’s advertising network. Gilli Goodman detailed the process involved in setting up a new Adwords account and repeats over and over again that we need to spend a lot of time in researching keywords and target market and demographics before setting up a new campaign. Give it a try, the Google team along with Satyan Joshi urged.

Key points that I observed
Always mention prices in your Adwords ad block. By doing showing the prices on your advertisement, you avoid clicks from people who couldn’t afford your product.

Adwords advert position depends upon your ranking that is made up by multiplying the maximum CPC (Cost per Click) and the website’s Quality Score (depends on click through rate, link value, landing page, quality of user experience, and page speed).
Organic/natural website listing position is based on the website’s relevance to the users search and latency (speed, web standards, IP address, etc).
Do not pay your hard earned money to agencies that charge a bomb. At most times, you might be able to get great results by putting aside some time for research and experimenting.

Buffet dinner and networking followed the event. I had the opportunity to talk to Andy Barke and Satyan Joshi. Both of them denied the myth that Google favours big brand and names that can afford to pay for a special arrangement that will provide better search results. They mentioned that they have even stopped paying the 15% commission that the advertising agencies used to get.

I hope the presentation will prove useful to the 200 odd businesses that had attended the event titled as “Speedup during the Slowdown”.

Photograph by Mykl Roventine.

Nintendo Wii & DS – Ant & Dec (Saturday Night Takeaway) Love to Meet Real People

Kathir 'Sid' Vel — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:53:09 +0000

Would you like to meet Ant and Dec (of Saturday Night Takeaway)? I just overheard them say that they can’t wait to go out and meet real people who play the Wii! Wondering? Have a look at the commercial.

Parents hate it when their children won’t get off the Wii, Xbox, PlayStation or any game console. They always complain that their son or daughter is glued to the console and not getting out and meeting other kids. We all know the truth, don’t we? Gaming consoles have the capability to consume the player and alienate them from others.

Nintendo has launched a very smart campaign, using Ant and Dec. The TV advertisement is lively and thoroughly enjoyable. One view at it, and you start liking it! Ant and Dec lend their humour and style to make this advertisement, a success.

Notice the point where Dec says, “I can’t wait to get out and meet real people who play Wii, who play DS” and Ant adds, “Who are competitive as us, who are good as us”. This is a smart and subliminal message. Dec’s tone gets serious when he starts the sentence. This conveys the opinion that people who play on Nintendo are to be taken seriously and not as a slacker. Ant communicates the view that people who like them and their shows should be playing on the Nintendo Wii while at home and on the Nintendo DS while travelling.

Very effective message, packaged in a cute and lovable advertisement! Nintendo has recently been focusing on communicating the message that they bring people, families, and friends closer. This is a far better approach at marketing the Nintendo Wii and DS as compared to the rivals Sony and Microsoft, who just associate their brand name with the adverts for the individual games.

What do you think of Nintendo’s strategy? Share your comments about the Ant and Dec Wii advertisement.

Addition : – I’ve been asking around and most people seem to understand, the above mentioned advertisement is contrived. I’ve been a part of major ad campaigns in the past and know that celebrities don a wide smile and lie blatantly for the money they get paid. Nowadays I find more and more consumers aware of the same fact. Mass media has opened the eyes of the good old and blind customer. I seriously believe that such amateurish campaigns ruin the reputation of brands rather than helping it.

Frank Serpico : Bringing the lamplighter to the limelight

Kathir 'Sid' Vel — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:54:40 +0000

Frank Serpico

‘Doing the right thing’ was his motive and he still lives and fights for it. Frank Serpico, born in 1936 is an Italian American from Brooklyn. After spending his early years in the US Army, serving in Korea and his training at the military college, Serpico became a New York city Cop in the year 1960. Becoming a cop was his life time dream as that was a position he respected the most. But the police department was not what he though it was. Corruption was at every nook and corner. He kept moving from department to department but never found a peaceful work environment. His colleagues, immediate seniors, superintendents, officials, and even the chief commissioner of police were making the system corrupt. He always tried to fight back, but would end in vain. He had gone to outside agencies and even the New York Times. It all ended up in his colleagues being very angry on him and some of them setup a drug raid to get Serpico killed. Luckily, Serpico escaped with his left ear going deaf and a chronic cerebral problem.

Serpico in 1971

I was very impressed by this man, for he stood by what he believed in. If I was in his place I might have decided one day to be a part of the corrupt system and go along with it. But only after I came across Serpico’s story did I realise that humanity is something that is wonderful and I want to live up to it. Why cant we be true to ourselves and others. That too a Police officer! We all know that the cops are corrupt and yet they never change! Just imagine if we were to hide behind the house and smoke when we were kids and our parents found out; they would punish us or warn us and the next time I am sure we will have some guilt feeling down us. Do these cops ever have a guilt feeling? I wonder not because all they have is the gut feeling. It has become a job description for cops that they have to be corrupt! The sad part is that we all have been aware and in a way or the other helped corruption go deep into the system.

Al Pacino as Serpico

Serpico now lives in Europe during the summer and back home at New York at other times. He is still fighting to help the Lamplighters, who are generally called as the Whistle Blowers by the department. Serpico has been a moral support to all those Cops who have been going through similar incidents and hard times. In 1973 director Sidney Lumet made a film called ‘Serpico’ based on the biography written by Peter Maas. Al Pacino starred as Serpico in this emotional drama based on the real New York Cop who just wanted to do the right thing. During the filming of this film Al Pacino invited Frank Serpico to stay with him at a house that Pacino had rented in Montauk, New York. When Pacino asked Serpico, “Why did you do it?” Serpico replied, “Well, Al, I don’t know. I guess I would have to say it would be because… if I didn’t, who would I be when I listened to a piece of music?”