One Lazy Engineer

The Strength in Imperfect Start

2021-05-03T19:07:00.008+05:30

When you have a goal in mind - whether it is traveling the world, eating healthier food, opening a business, or starting with a new pastime, we often look at people who are good at it or successful in the field, we try to imitate them and reverse engineer their strategy.

In some cases, learning from them is a good way to accelerate the learning curve and commit fewer mistakes. But it is equally important to keep in mind that the system, habits, and strategy that they are employing today are not the same as where they had started. What is optimal for them right now is not necessarily needed for you to get started. There is a difference between the two. Let me explain.

What is Optimal vs. What is Needed:

If you set your bar at “amazing,” it is awfully difficult to start —Seth Godin

Learning from others is great but comparing your current situation to them can make you feel resource-deprived to get started at the first place. If you look at their current optimal setup you feel demotivated, and it will urge you to buy new things and make your setup ready to get started towards the first step toward your goals. And usually, that is not true. Here are some examples.

Traveling the world – Every time I travel, I see many backpackers equipped with all the latest gears: rainproof bags, moisture-wicking clothes, special shoes. Sure, the gear is not useless as they make the journey easier but somewhere it is not required. It is not a necessary catalyst to get started. You do not require brand new Nike Air shoes to start running, instead, you need the will. Those things might be optimal, but they are not needed in the beginning.

Starting a business – When you are an entrepreneur, it is so easy to get obsessed with optimal and this is especially true at the start. The true art lies in the content and ideation behind the business instead of getting into fine details unless your business lies in designing and other related fields.

Eating healthy – Maybe the optimal diet would involve buying organic eggs, caviar, avocado, or vegetables that are only organic or some other super-healthy food strategy. But if you are just trying to take the steps in the right direction, why get bogged down in the minute details? Start small there will be plenty of time for optimization later.

Avoiding the Optimization

Claiming that you need to “get all of your ducks in a row” can often be a crutch that prevents you from moving forward on the stuff that actually matters.

You can argue that it is hard to travel light without the right backpack, but the truth is you could make it work with what you have now.
You can point out how a YouTuber is successful because they use expensive cameras and costly software, but they probably got started without it.

Stressing on these little things can be a clever excuse to restrict yourself from doing the hard work. Remember, every successful man you admire has started small and it is their hard work that has helped them reach the heights they are today. Consider this (1.0)³⁶⁵ = 1 but (1.01)³⁶⁵ = 37.78. See what wonders a small and persistent start can do. A little progress every day adds up to a big result.

An imperfect start can always be improved but obsessing over a perfect plan will never take you anywhere on its own.

We're melting the Arctic and reviving deadly germs

2021-05-03T00:33:00.001+05:30

In December 2016, a remote community in Siberia Experienced a mysterious outbreak. 90 people were hospitalized, and a 12-year-old boy died. Soon, Russian officials identified what killed him. The deadly infectious disease anthrax. The outbreak had started among reindeer and to contain the spread they burned over 2000 reindeer carcasses. The strange thing was there had not been an anthrax outbreak in the area for more than 70 years. So, to figure out where it came from, scientists started looking underground.

In the coldest parts of the world, there is a layer of the earth that stays frozen all year. Every summer the soil above it thaws, but this deeper layer stays hard as a rock. This is known as permafrost. Most permafrost is here in the Northern hemisphere around the Arctic. And because it never thaws, permafrost acts kind of like the freezer in our kitchen. When plants and animals here die, they do not decompose. Instead, they become preserved in the frozen earth, like a time capsule and it has been that way for thousands of years. But that is changing. Today humans are burning carbon and making the atmosphere warmer, and that is causing the permafrost to thaw out and shrink. By 2100 only 60% of the land will have any permafrost and that is causing some problems. When permafrost melts the land above it becomes unstable, which can lead to landslides. Man-made structures start to fall apart as the ground underneath them collapses. And dead plants and animals that had been frozen for years are starting to thaw out.

As they are exposed to air and bacteria, this organic material starts to decompose. That releases greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. But that is not all it releases. In Siberia, scientists think that the anthrax outbreak came from a long-dead reindeer carcass that thawed out along with the permafrost. Anthrax spores from the carcass would have spread across the area and infected reindeer grazing nearby. And it is not just anthrax. Scientists worry that as permafrost melts, it could unearth all sorts of diseases like Spanish flu, bubonic plague, and chicken poxes we thought we had under control. 35 million people live around permafrost. But the carbon released as permafrost melts will accelerate the impacts of climate change everywhere rising seas heatwaves. Droughts in some places, and floods in others. And now we can add one more thing to that list. Diseases we thought we conquered.

We have already in midst of an animal-generated virus COVID-19, and it has shaken the supply chain and medical facilities of nations around the world to the core. Only time will tell what other man-made destructions the human race will face because of the greed and carelessness.

Procrastination : Science behind and ways to overcome it

2020-08-20T22:00:00.002+05:30

Procrastination is a challenge we have all faced at one point or another. We have been struggling with delaying, avoiding, and procrastinating on issues that matter to us.

We always think of stopping procrastination and work, make a plan for it, feel accomplished then again fall in the same trap. I will try to decode the science behind this phenomenon and why do we unknowingly love it so much and provide some strategies that may help you to better plan tomorrow and take action.

What is Procrastination and Why do we do it???

Procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished by a certain deadline. It could be further stated as a habitual or intentional delay of starting or finishing a task despite knowing it might have negative consequences. But even after knowing the negative consequences why do we procrastinate? Behavioral psychology research has revealed a phenomenon called “time inconsistency,” which helps explain why procrastination seems to pull us in despite our good intentions. Time inconsistency refers to the tendency of the human brain to value immediate rewards more highly than future rewards.

Let us understand this by imagining ourselves as two selves - present and future self. When we are setting up a task like getting in shape, reading a book, or starting a new hobby - we envision ourselves in future self and rewards associate with it which are long term rewards. Once goals are set, it’s the time of the present self to take action. But wait, the present self wants instant gratification. In this manner, the future and present self sets poles apart. Sure, future self wants a nice physique but the present wants to calm sugar craving through the donut.

This is one reason why when we go to bed late after binge-watching a favorite show or playing games, we think that from tomorrow onward I will change all this but next night we repeat the same old pattern. Our brain values long-term benefits when they are in the future (tomorrow), but it values immediate gratification when it comes to the present moment (today).

How to Stop Procrastinating Right Now

Solution 1: Temptation Bundling

One of the best ways to bring future rewards into the present moment is with a strategy known as temptation bundling. Temptation bundling is a concept that came out of behavioral economics research performed by Katy Milkman at The University of Pennsylvania. Simply put, the strategy suggests that you bundle a behavior that is good for you in the long-run with a behavior that feels good in the short-run.

Make two columns of Pleasure vs Procrastination
In column 1 write all the things that give you pleasure and you often do instead of actual work. In column 2 write the task you should be doing, instead of procrastinating it
Now combine these 2 column tasks, for examples

Only get a pedicure while processing overdue work emails.
Only watch your favorite show while ironing or doing household chores.

Solution 2: Make the Consequences of Procrastination More Harsh
There are many ways to punish yourself to stop procrastination. One of them is penalizing yourself. Let’s say, putting a 100 rupee note in the jar for every hour of actual work sacrificed because of procrastination and at the end of each month rewarding that money to the person you hate.
Another one is to make plan with someone else, for example, if you alone do exercise and miss one day you will not feel that bad but when you promise the other person to work out with at 7:00 AM and miss it, you will be seen as a jerk and that might motivate you to get up and grind.

Solution 3: Applying Restrictions
Applying restrictions is one of the best ways to overcome the habit of procrastination. Using too much social media, deactivate the account for some days. Having the habit of continuously checking notifications, hide them all so they are visible only when you open the app. Having compulsive disorder of playing PC games, uninstall them. You get the idea of what I am trying to say. Remove every obstacle that is hindering you to reach your goal.

Ivy Lee Method for boosting productivity

The Ivy Lee method is a 100-year-old strategy for helping people become more productive. It saves time from decision fatigue and forces you to prioritize what is more essential for you in advance.

Every night, write down the six most important things you need to accomplish tomorrow
Prioritize those six items in order of their true importance
When you wake up the next morning, concentrate only on the first task. Work until the first task is finished before moving on to the second task
Approach the rest of your list in the same fashion. At the end of the day, move any unfinished items to a new list of six tasks for the following day
Repeat this process every working day

I hope you will find this article useful and it will help you to be more productive in life. Stay healthy, stay safe.

Andhra Pradesh Industrial Policy 2020-23

2020-08-12T18:15:00.003+05:30

Andhra Pradesh government has announced a new “Industrial Development Policy 2020-23” focusing on sustainable development with the accent on MSMEs and women entrepreneurs and wide-based development of the State. The government has identified industrial zoning as a key focus area to ensure planned industrial development and provide a risk-free, investment-friendly environment for setting up and operating industries in the state with minimal impact on the environment.

The policy was launched by Minister for Industries Mekapati Gowtham Reddy in Vijayawada in the virtual presence of a hundred representatives from various industrial and academic communities. The 'YSR AP One' has announced a new multi-faceted capability center set up in the state. The new centre will offer ten vital services including entrepreneurship facilitation, sales support, and MSME revitalization.

"The manufacturing sector, as an employment provider, remains a high priority for the state. The government will undertake structural reforms to accelerate industrialization in the state. We believe that providing the right facilities at the right cost and offering transparent approvals is critical to the success of the industrial sector," Goutham Reddy noted. The thrust areas identified by the government under the new industrial policy include food processing, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, textiles, electronics, footwear, and leather, toys and furniture, petrochemicals components, machinery, precision equipment and mineral-based industries.

Features of the policy:

The new industrial policy for 2020-23 proposes interventions across infrastructure, ease of doing business, skill development, business enablement, and fiscal incentives
Notable interventions include complete zoning and pre-clearance of industrial land in the state, setting up of MSME parks with plug and play facilities
To further enhance the ease of doing business, the government proposes to provide deemed approval with a grace period of 3 years for all green category MSMEs
30 skill centers and 2 skilling universities shall be established in the state
Fiscal incentives proposed for MSME's include 100% reimbursement of stamp duty, net SGST, power subsidy of Re 1/unit, 15% investment subsidy, and interest subsidy up to 3%
For medium, large and mega industries, net SGST reimbursement linked to employment generation has been proposed
The policy also lays down additional incentives for units owned by special category and women entrepreneurs

With the current pandemic and millions of lost jobs, YSR AP One surely seems like a silver lining if implemented correctly. Andhra Pradesh has previously seen the power of industries and the IT sector with Hyderabad. But, after the state bifurcation and Hyderabad coming under Telangana, AP seems to re-establish the industry culture back in the state and eliminate youth unemployment. More states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand should learn and adopt these modern changes as the industry-based economy is the key to move up in developing nations ladder instead of the agriculture-based economy.

Understanding the National Education Policy 2020

2020-07-31T20:22:00.022+05:30

After 6 years of deliberation, India finally made major reforms to its 34-year-old education policy. With HRD Ministery changing its name to Ministery of Education, Education Minister Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal announcing series of changes that will affect 300 million students along with ramping up the public investment from 4.4% of GDP to 6%. Let’s take a look at the new reforms.

School Education:

NEP 2020 will replace the existing 10+2 structure to 5+3+3+4 which categorizes the classes according to the developmental stages of children to provide them with a better holistic approach towards life. Today, a student (in most urban cities) enter formal education at the age of 3 through extracurricular playschools. Apart from the structure, the NEP also proposes a considerable change in the examination structure. Key stage assessments (at Grades 3, 5, and 8) would be conducted to track the development of the child. As for the secondary stage, the board examinations would be reformed. They would be made easier where students would be tested on their core capabilities. Instead of just one board, a more modular model to be explored.

One contentious point in the discussion is the medium of instruction. There was some confusion that lessons till grade 5 would be taught strictly in the mother tongue or the local language prevalent in the region. But that’s not entirely accurate. According to the policy, “Wherever possible, the medium of instruction until at least Grade 5, but preferably till Grade 8 and beyond, will be the mother tongue... Thereafter, the home/local language shall continue to be taught as a language wherever possible. This will be followed by both public and private schools.” So this phrase ‘wherever possible’ clearly gives some wiggle room to schools. All in all, three languages are to be taught to all students and while states are allowed to decide what to pick, two of these languages have to be native to India.

Once these students get to grade 6, the pedagogy will evolve to more experiential learning in the sciences, mathematics, arts, social sciences and humanities. This is also when students will be introduced to vocational training- they’ll be taught technical skills that will allow them to take up jobs in specialized trades or crafts like pottery or carpentry. In fact, they’ll also have to do a 10-day internship with local experts!

This will go on till students get to grade 9. Once there, they will be exposed to multidisciplinary studies where they get to pick the subjects they like from the ones available. No more Science vs Commerce. No more compartmentalization of those adept at mathematics and the ones interested in History. Basically, there are no more streams. You can choose to study Physics along with Sanskrit, or Political Science along with Computers, and your school will have to accommodate you. Even vocational courses and extracurricular activities will be given as much leverage as academic studies.

Of course, amid all these changes, something will have to be done about those career-defining assessments that make students everywhere tremble- board exams. Unfortunately, the policy does not discontinue board exams. But it does lower their importance and make them easier. What’s more, students will be allowed to take them again if they think there’s scope for improvement!

College Education:

The National Testing Agency (NTA) will be charged with conducting (optional) entrance examinations for admissions into higher educational institutes across the country. This will be a standardized test, similar to the SAT which is used for college admissions in the US.

Once selected into a college, students will enroll in a 3 or 4-year undergraduate degree, with the option of leaving whenever they want. If you complete one year, you’ll get a certificate. Two years gets you a diploma. If you stick it out for three or four years (depending on the course), you’ll get a degree. And if you pursue a four-year program with research, you’ll be an eligible Ph.D. candidate.

Another cool bit here is the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC). An ABC will store the academic credits that students earn by taking courses from various recognized higher education institutions. Whenever you complete a course, some credits will be added to your bank. You can then transfer these credits if you decide to switch colleges. And even if you’re forced to drop out for some reason, these credits will remain intact. Meaning you can come back years later and pick up from where you left off.

Another thing the policy focuses on is the need to make universities multidisciplinary. Meaning, they’ll be expected to teach everything from arts, science, management, etc. under one roof. By 2040, the government seeks to phase out single-stream institutions in favor of this model.

The NEP also has made a bold move to resolve the binary of research and teaching and the focus on research will foster a strong culture for innovation. All in all, the changes underlined in the NEP seem well thought out. If implemented in its true vision, the new structure would bring India at par with the leading countries of the world.

Loneliness : A disease?

2020-07-15T16:23:00.003+05:30

Everyone feels lonely at some point in their life for example when we have no one to sit next to during lunch, when we move to a new city or when we have no one to spend the weekend with but over the decades this occasional feeling has become chronic illness for millions.

In India, around 5 million people suffer from loneliness, in the USA 46% of all populations feel lonely. We are living in the most connected time in human history due to technology, yet unprecedented number of people feel lonely. Being lonely and living alone are two different things. You can have a bliss with yourself and hate every second surrounded by others. Loneliness is a purely subjective and very individual experience. If you feel lonely, you are lonely. A common notion is that it only affects people who are introverts and don’t know how to behave with others, but this is not true studies have shown that social skills don’t make any difference when it comes to social connections. Loneliness can affect anyone, even a person with money, power and fame because it’s in one’s biology.

What is Loneliness???

Loneliness is a bodily function just like hunger. Hunger tells us about our physical needs, the same way loneliness tells us about our social needs. Your body cares about our social needs because millions of years ago it was a great reminder of how likely are your chances to survive.

From the evolution perspective, staying in a group meant survival, staying alone meant death. Being social became part of life as gathering food, staying safe and warm or caring for offspring alone was practically impossible, therefore our brain fine-tuned itself to read human emotions more to form and maintain social bonds. To avoid this our body came up with social pain, an early warning system that gives us signals to stop certain behavior that would not be accepted by others resulting in rejection by the group. That’s why rejections hurt, and why loneliness is so painful.

The downside of the Modern World.

The loneliness epidemic we see today started in the late 14th century. Western culture emphasized more on individuality and this trend accelerated in the Industrial revolution. People left villages to move to cities for better opportunities. As e advanced, this trend grew more and more. Today we move vast distances for job, love and education and leave our social net behind. Most people enter into chronic loneliness by accident, you get busy with work, university, romance and social media. The easiest time to sacrifice is friends and one day you realize you feel suffocated and isolated. While today’s generation may think materialistic objects can eliminate the social needs, our body functions in the same manner as it used to 50,000 years ago, it needs the warmth of human companionship.

How Loneliness Kills

Studies have shown that loneliness harms physical health too. You age faster, it makes cancer deadlier, Alzheimer’s advances faster and immune system weaker. It is twice as deadly as obesity or smoking a pack of cigarettes every day. Once it becomes chronic, the brain sees danger and hostility everywhere and it sends the body in self-preservation mode. Because of this perceived hostile world, you can become more self-centered to protect yourself, which can make you appear colder and socially awkward then you already are.

What can you do about it???

First of all, accept the fact that it is a totally normal feeling and nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone in their life feels lonely at some point, it’s a universal human feeling. It doesn’t go magically as it takes years to develop but you can try self-introspection and slowly you will feel the difference around you.

Of course, every human is different and self-introspection might not be enough. Please try to reach out to professional help. It is not a sign of weakness, but courage. However, we look at being depressed or loneliness as an individual fight or public health crisis, mental health needs more attention. We need to come out and speak up.

Humans have created a wonderful shiny world full of materialistic elements but nothing comes closer to satisfy the fundamental need for biological connection. Let’s start today, reach out to our friends and family and help them.

CONSUMER SCIENCE | THE CHANGING PARADIGMS

2020-07-07T23:00:00.000+05:30

Today, businesses around the world acknowledge that customer is supreme and his sovereignty prevails. The consumer has become the main pivotal point for any business to stay in profit. Though similar, consumers are unique in themselves; they have needs and wants which are varied and diverse from one another, and they have different consumption patterns and consumption behavior. For a firm to survive, compete and grow, it is essential that the marketer identifies these needs and wants, and provides product offerings more effectively and efficiently than other competitors. Thus, understanding the customer became important and the term Consumer Behaviour comes into play.

Consumer Behavior may be defined as “the interplay of forces that takes place during a consumption process, within a consumers’ self and his environment.”

This interaction takes place between three elements viz. knowledge, affect and behavior;
It continues through pre-purchase activity to the post-purchase experience;
It includes the stages of evaluating, acquiring, using and disposing of goods and services.

To impart more knowledge on the subject, Esha Nagar, MD of Nepa India shared her insightful thoughts on the webinar organized by BRATS. The main focus of the webinar was Research and how market research and analysis is an important step in understanding consumer science.

RESEARCH- AN ESSENTIAL

Market research provides relevant data to help solve marketing challenges that a business will most likely face--an integral part of the business planning process. In fact, strategies such as market segmentation (identifying specific groups within a market) and product differentiation (creating an identity for a product or service that separates it from those of the competitors) are impossible to develop without market research.

Market research involves two types of data:

Primary information - This is research you compile yourself or hire someone to gather for you.
Secondary information - This type of research is already compiled and organized for you. Examples of secondary information include reports and studies by government agencies, past researches from the internet, or other businesses within your industry.

RESEARCH PARADIGMS IN CONSUMER BEHAVIOR:

a) Quantitative Research in Consumer Behavior: It comprises of

(i) research techniques that are used to gather quantitative data over large samples randomly, and (ii) statistical tools and techniques, inclusive of survey techniques, observation and experiments. This type of research is descriptive and empirical in nature. It is primarily used by positivists while studying consumer behavior, with a focus on the prediction of consumer behavior.

b) Qualitative Research in Consumer Behavior: It comprises of

(i) research techniques that are used to gather qualitative data over small samples randomly and,

(ii)non-statistical tools and techniques, inclusive of depth interviews, focus group, projective techniques and even observation.

The type of study is subjective and non-empirical in nature. It emphasizes the holistic “what, where, when, why and how” of human behavior”. The approach assumes that all marketing situations are unique; and, hence the findings cannot be generalized to marketing situations.

Today, the two approaches are used in combination to study consumer behavior. Qualitative research is very often a prelude to quantitative research; the findings from qualitative research are used to prepare scales for surveys and experiments. In some cases quantitative research may also act as a precursor to qualitative research; the findings from quantitative research are corroborated through case studies and other qualitative measures.

RESEARCH JOURNEY

"IT STARTS WITH CURIOSITY”
According to Esha, Being curious is a word that forms the core of consumer science. It is all about having the thirst and knack of curiosity and knowing the unknown to master market research. It’s all about surfing the uncharted seas and coming up with unique solutions to accommodate customers better.

COVID - CHANGING THE PARADIGMS

The prevailing pandemic has changed all the aspects of human life. The companies have been articulate in handling the challenges of consumer buying behavior. The present scenario of Covid-19 is no exception for the brands. Most of the brands are showing the variations in their marketing communication to influence consumer choice. The low demand for non-essential goods and services are transitory owing to consumer’s choice more into the survival goods or services only.

In this crisis of Covid-19, even non-essential services/goods brands must engage with customers by communicating on social media. The social relationship of customers with the brands always have impacted the consumer purchase decisions. The consumer survival mood is temporary and after the lifting of the lockdown, the customers will start their purchases with precautions. The post- lockdown situation may change the scenario of markets. The cycle of the market will gain momentum. The Covid-19 vaccine will act as a life jacket and without a life jacket, the fear of the virus may curtail the shopper’s intensity of shopping to some extent. Online shopping will increase and physical buying will go down. The coronavirus fear has penetrated the consumer’s mind and psychology which may affect his/her ways of buying. The brands have to exploit the new brand communication which minimizes the psychological impact in the consumer’s minds. The positioning strategies will be different. The new technology and strategies may open new avenues to the brands and they may be able to influence consumer behavior.

MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

ESHA NAGAR

Managing Director, Nepa India

She brings vast experience through her earlier association at Kantar & Nielsen prior to Nepa, she led the West Region Media and Digital practices, among other roles. Over her career, Nagar has worked in both the research focused consulting side and business development space in the industry. Her work experience has been across multiple verticals like Consumer - Retail panels, Digital focused solutions, Path-to-Purchase Understanding & Media Effectiveness. Nagar holds an MBA from the Nirma Institute of Management.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/esha-nagar-a8877715/

Why PUBG isn't banned in India? [Possible Reasons]

2020-07-05T17:37:00.003+05:30

Recently Government of India banned 59 Chinese applications including Tik-Tok stating privacy concerns. While some mourned and some made trolls for Tik-Tok, mobile gamers glued to the list if PUBG was on the list. Currently, all the 59 apps are out of service in India as well as being removed from the Play Store. This move created significant confusion as to how PUBG managed to remain safe. Below we have discussed the possible reasons that PUBG was excluded from the list.

Mixed Ownership

The game is not fully owned by the Chinese company Tencent. In the first place, China didn't even had PUBG. It was developed by PUBG Corporation, a subsidiary of South Korean company named Bluehole. To enter China, Bluehole had to made deal with Tencent to release the desktop version in the country Shortly after that, Tencent acquired a 1.5% equity stake worth Rs 440 crores (approx.) in the Bluehole company. Notably, Bluehole owns the PUBG corporation. Moreover, Tencent announced that it plans to increase investment by about Rs 3147 crores. All of this will allow Tencent to acquire a total of 11.5% stake.

So even if Tencent has a stake in PUBG, the game is not owned by them and some other companies have involvement in developing and investing in the game.

Privacy and Security

The user’s privacy and security are always a big concern. The main reason behind the ban on 59 apps is their general disregard for user safety. It is common for Chinese apps to harbor all sorts of security flaws and vulnerabilities that risk our data.

PUBG, however, claims to value the users’ privacy and says that it does not misuse data. PUBG was always against hackers and cheaters. It uses the BattlEye software and has formed an entire Anti-Cheat Unit on its platform. This system automatically eliminates users found indulging in unfair means and violating rules. PUBG claims to be transparent in terms of privacy and security of users’ data.

Final Verdict

The main reason for banning the 59 apps was the security flaws and vulnerabilities present in them. So, one rationale of the government behind not banning PUBG may be that it passed the parameters employed this time. So, to conclude, we can say that PUBG is good enough in terms of security and privacy. Only time will tell if PUBG will be banned in India or not. Till then enjoy the game and have chicken dinners gamers.

Design Thinking

2020-07-04T11:39:00.011+05:30

With technical advancements and business transformations around the globe, factories have grown from merely producing stuff to meet the demand to innovating and molding the products to customer needs. And in today’s world of competition to achieve this, the businesses have moved forward to have more cordial relations with the consumers to understand their needs, so as to assist them better, and therefore the term DESIGN THINKING was invented in the 20th century.

To give more insight on Design Thinking, Babita Baruah with her impeccable service record of 25 years in marketing and advertising delivered a seminar on the BRATS platform. She started off with an assertion “Design Thinking starts with empathy”. Design Thinking as a process can only be achieved when we can feel the customer and empathize with them to have a better understanding. It is both an ideology and a process, concerned with solving complex problems in a human-centric way.

“ MAKE IT MATTER”
Babita Baruah said, over the years, I have reframed myself from a professional to a more socially responsible person who always tries to ideate new methods to bring the change in the society and if I can change even one life through this then my mission is accomplished. Make every move count and go the distance to achieve the goal.

BENEFITS OF DESIGN THINKING :

Helps in tracking creative challenges, design thinking allows you to take a look at the problem from a completely different perspective.
Assists in effectively meeting client requirements as design thinking involves prototyping all the various products at the MVP stage go through multiple rounds of testing and customer feedback for assured quality.
The design process goes through various evaluations and corrections. The process doesn’t stop even after the deliverable is complete.
Design thinking helps businesses better identity, understanding of concern problems. It values solutions over processes and creativity and innovations over traditions.
Gives opportunity for multiple perspectives ensures that the outcome meets the objectives and client requirements.

5 PHASES OF DESIGN THINKING PROCESS :

Empathy – The first stage of the process is spent getting to know the user and understanding their wants, needs, and objectives. This means observing and engaging with people in order to understand them on a psychological and emotional level.

Reframe – The second stage in the Design Thinking process is dedicated to defining the problem. You’ll gather all of your findings from the empathize phase and start to make sense of them: what difficulties and barriers are your users coming up against? What patterns do you observe? What is the big user problem that your team needs to solve? By the end of the define phase, you will have a clear problem statement.

Reach to enthusiasts – In this phase, we keep in mind the audience base and target the specific ones that are truly passionate. They may be few but if they are impassioned they are ones for which we have to do it.

Play (Ideation) – The third phase in the DT process is where creativity happens, and it’s crucial to point out that the ideation stage is a judgment-free zone! There are many different types of ideation techniques that designers might use, from brainstorming and mind-mapping to roleplay scenarios and provocation — an extreme lateral-thinking technique that gets the designer to challenge established beliefs and explore new options and alternatives.

Act (Prototype) – This stage is where the convergence of ideas from the ideation phase takes place. It is all about experimentation and turning ideas into tangible products. Throughout the prototype stage, the proposed solutions may be accepted, improved, redesigned, or rejected depending on how they fare in prototype form.

CONCLUSION :

The biggest asset of design thinking is its human-centric feelings and playful thinking. The courage to try something new and creative, the curiosity for other people’s lives, the cooperation with others is all that it takes to understand. Design thinking is all about product development and can bring various benefits. It is not just a trend that will fade away in a month. It is gaining some serious traction, not only in product companies but also in other fields such as education and science.

MORE ABOUT BABITA BARUAH:

Worked for Wunderman Thompson for 20 years with clients like Sunsilk and lux. Her portfolio extends across categories like FMCG, Finance, and Technology. Beside being part of a noble agency team on Nestle, J&J, and radiant. She led the team in Nokia India before moving on to setting up a dedicated solution team for Pepsico India in 2016.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/babitabaruah/

WATCH FULL DESIGN THINKING WEBINAR HERE :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQoat6qzlE8&feature=emb_title

To attend more webinars please visit https://courses.brats.co.in/.

The webinars are completely free for students. To get connected with the BRATS platform, join this WhatsApp group https://chat.whatsapp.com/JZiHanU6OzB3CXvYbStXfE

BRAND in COVID World !!!

2020-07-03T17:09:00.009+05:30

We all know that Man is a social animal and he likes to live in a group for his needs but a year ago, if someone would have said that this is going to be changed forever, it might have occurred as a joke to me, but here we are. The prevailing pandemic has changed all aspects of life. Man adapted to these changes quite quickly because of the advancements in the technical field, but what about the BRANDS??? They too have to quickly transform themselves to get the most out of the pandemic and be stagnant if not growing for a quarter or wait to lose the opportunity to their rivals.

To answer these questions and give an insight into the marketing campaigns and how brands manage to cope up with the epidemic, ABHISHANK BABBAR, Associate Director at Genesis BCW took up an intuitive seminar on the BRATS platform. He started off with a statement “COVID-19 isn’t a temporary disruption. It is creating a paradigm shift in how we live and how organizations do business”. The world has seen drastic changes in consumption, entertainment, relationships, health & fitness, work & education, news & information. Keeping this in mind how consumer behavior is changed, some brands too have adapted and transformed themselves from communication, marketing, and advertising perspectives to reach out and stand among masses.

THE 1:10:100 RULE

It basically states that a company has one message and how it uses the right touch-points to reach out to 100’s of audiences. In the present scenario, the message is to stay home, follow social distancing, and be safe. Advertising teams of brands like Nike and Coca-Cola have intuitively played and displayed the message while advertising at the same level.

He showcased how brands can choose the right approach in these volatile times in 4 simple steps:

McDonald’s came out with McFamily and made meals for corona warriors around the world. Kotak Mahindra came along with their brand ambassador Ranveer Singh and showed that you can open an account sitting at home in easy steps, the ad was both informative and entertaining.

It’s not about what an influencer can do for you, it’s also about what your brand’s content can do for the influencer’s followers
On the topic of the influencer outreach program for marketing advertisements, he said, if a brand reaches out to an influencer who is not so much connected with the brand then it hurts the sentiments of both, brand as well as an influencer in the long run. It’s better to go with an influencer who has fewer followers but they are genuinely interested in the brand. Quality over quantity is the key to successful influencer outreach. One plus partnered with Robert Downey Jr aka Tony Stark for brand promotion, turns out he tweeted about the brand using an iPhone which later became the object of ridicule over the internet. The same happened with Huawei and Gal Gadot.

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS: PREPARATION FOR THE NEXT

No business can run without monetary benefits therefore they have to transform from a survival mindset to a growth mindset. They need to study consumer behaviors to understand the difference between temporary vs lasting. Transforming business models that are challenged at best, obsolete at worst is the main concern at this time. Companies need to go back to the fundamentals of business i.e ABC of communications.

Analyze the brand messaging – Be very accurate in spreading the msg through the brand as this can be devastating rather than uprising in the long run.
Be Attentive – using analytics to track consumer changing needs.
Consumer need first – Adding value and changing according to the need of the audiences at the right time.

Brands need to be more proactive than ever as this pandemic can turn even the most profitable business into ashes and vice versa. They need to properly analyze and make the best use of the time and make the most of it.

More About BRATS:

BRATS shall help the students to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical experience in the fields of advertising and marketing, which shall help to bring the industry mavericks and students under a single roof with the purpose of educating and enlightening the upcoming breed of Junior BRATS. We are looking at facilitating an opportunity to work on real-world marketing problems and have their solutions implemented by the untapped talent pool of our country.

To attend more webinars please visit https://courses.brats.co.in/.

The webinars are completely free for students. To get connected with the BRATS platform, join this WhatsApp group https://chat.whatsapp.com/JZiHanU6OzB3CXvYbStXfE

More About the Speaker:

Where was Kim jong-Un?

2020-06-13T12:40:00.003+05:30

11 April 2020, just another day for the world as COVID-19 cases were stacking up sharply, no one paid much attention to the unremarkable news from a third world country, North Korea. The state-run Korean central news agency published a mundane story about Kim Jong-Un attending a Workers Party meeting. What no one knew was that this will be the last photograph taken for Kim for almost 3 weeks. After missing his grandfather’s birthday celebration on 15 April, something he hasn’t done in his 9 years of his regime, it became clear that something was up and the rumors quickly started cooking up. The Internet took up by the storm and social media and news agencies were flooded by the rumors of Kim’s death due to failed cardiovascular surgery or coronavirus. On 1 May, when the supreme commander returned before the media to inspect a fertilizer factory outside Pyongyang. This is another classic example of sloppy journalism and how people around the world were easily convinced as many outlets including the big names like CNN, BBC went into publishing the news, the world stopped the celebration of a brutal, murderous dictator. This may be a false alarm this time around, but this incident raises up one grave question- Who will inherit the nuclear codes, once Kim Jong-Un is dead.

In its existence of 71 years, only three people and one family has ever ruled the Democratic The people’s Republic of Korea. From the country’s founding in 1948, Kim Il-Sung ruled the country for 46 years, until he died in 1994. During this time India, which gained independence around the same time cycled through 8 prime ministers and Japan through 21. After the demise of the first leader, his eldest son Kim Jong-Il inherited the throne. This was relatively easy as Kim jong-Il showed keen interest in politics from a young age, thus helping him climbing up the ladder in the race. But the question who will follow Kim Jong-Il was far more complicated as he married to 4 different women bearing 3 sons and 4 daughters. Kim Jong-Nam, being the eldest son and favorite was considered the heir apparent to his father until 2001, embarrassing the regime in 2001 with a failed attempt to visit Tokyo Disneyland with a false passport Dominican passport and fake Chinese name. As a result, Kim Jong-Nam was exiled from North Korea in 2003. The middle son was considered quiet and unmotivated to join the politics as a result Kim Jong-Un was chosen as the next heir for the Kim dynasty in 2008.

If tradition continues, power will be inherited by the eldest son of Kim. However, the problem with that is the eldest son is 10 years old as of now and the physical health of Kim Jong-Un is much worse than his predecessors, meaning there is a very real chance he can die before any of his children reaches maturity which brings us to glaze at the family tree.

According to the Korean tradition, anyone with the Kim family blood is a potential rival in the race. Kim Jong-Nam was assassinated in 2017 in Kuala Lampur. The most realistic replacement comes from the country, Kim Yo-Jong, daughter of Kim Jong-Il. After the demise of her father, she has accepted a very public role as his brother’s assistant. She can be seen standing behind Kim in all important meetings the power she has accumulated in all these years along with close proximity to Kim is a clear sign of trust. While she has all-important Kim family blood she would likely struggle to gain support in North Korea’s patriarchal culture. Another contender is Choe Ryong-Hae, supposedly father in law of Kim Yo-Jong. As a member of the party’s Standing committee, central committee, Military Commission, Deputy of Supreme People commission he is one of the most powerful senior officials in the country. But he lacks the family blood and financial access thus making him a less favorable choice as the Supreme Commander. This leaves only Kim Jong-Chol, the older brother of Kim Jong-Un but he too has no political ambitions, thus making Kim jong-Un the Supreme Commander in the first place.

The problem with the nation is that so much of what we know is told by the insiders who have once lived in the country. North Korea, remaining isolated and disinterested in confirming or denying the rumors to the outside world, one can only assume the incidents with the limited understanding and connecting the dots. In the last replacements, there was no chaotic struggle for power and the world got lucky as they didn’t have to face any commotion due to this nuclear-armed nation. Only time will tell what the future beholds and will there be any struggle in the next replacement.