Two Things

I came across this wonderful concept called 'Story of Two Things' here. It is as follows:

A few years ago, I was chatting with a stranger in a bar. When I told him I was an economist, he said, “Ah. So… what are the Two Things about economics?”

“Huh?” I cleverly replied.

“You know, the Two Things. For every subject, there are really only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not important.”

“Oh,” I said. “Okay, here are the Two Things about economics. One: Incentives matter. Two: There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”

I thought it was brilliant. I decided to put on my thinking cap(ahem) and come up with my version of Two Things in some very important areas.

Two Things about India

One: Satyameva Jayate (Truth always triumphs)

Two: Uh-oh

Two Things about Indian Media

One: Unbiased media nurtures democracy

Two: Uh-oh

Two Things about Brands

One: Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand. (David Ogilvy)

Two: Uh-oh

Two Things about Digital

One: Digital is about doing stuff( and not about talking)

Two: Uh-oh

Over to you.

Fulfillment

 "The greatest fulfillment is when you do something good for others" 

I would urge you to see this talk by Simon Sinek for NYC Creative Mornings. The greed and do-not-care attitude of management that plagues most organizations (and society) has a domino's effect that seems to be relentless. In this talk Simon Sinek gives the example of the US Marines on how to build self-confidence and a winning team. Everything he says has been extolled in our scriptures - the Upanishads in particular. But then who cares for our scriptures when our role-models are those who seem to be right out of a reality TV show and 24x7 news.BTW, is there a difference between the two?

Land Rover

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Land Rover is a brand that tells stories through its product. It is a brand where the product is as daring as its user. A brand that places the product in users hands and lets them do whatever their imagination lets them to. Hey, I am talking about the huge of can of whisky in the video. What were you thinking?

Dan Weiden - Marketers and agencies better listen and learn from him

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Dan Weiden is one of the few people left in the agency business who talks sense. Not only does he talk sense, he has demonstrated it in the work created by his agency.

I picked up these two gems from the video.

"This business(agency) is about creating strong provocative relationships between good companies and their customers. Those relationships will then feed the business(sales). But you have to feed the relationship first."

"We are not in a place where we can chose between doing broadcast and interactive. That is ridiculous. It is like saying do you want the right hand or left hand. I want to use both my hands and some other appendages too. It is not a choice. It is just expanding the opportunities."

Well said, Dan.

Dead Ideas

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I have lost track of the number of times I have seen this happen. What about you?

Deadlines

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If only the client stretched the deadline a bit for you to develop that germ of an idea buzzing in your head. Sounds familiar? Been there often? Eh?

Fret not anymore. Help is at hand.

Share the video above and you might actually get the client to relax the deadline a bit. And if the deadline is relaxed, I hope you are able to be as creative as the kids in the video.  

State of Strategy

The Colbert Report
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I used to always wonder as to how the consumer would react were they to read one of the strategy documents churned by marketers in collaboration with their agency. Steven Colbert provides the answer in the video above. It is meant for a good laugh.

Ask anyone in the agency business(or clients) and they will tell you that only a handful of strategists and their output makes any sense. The rest in the words of Austin Powers is best described as 'Shagadelic, baby'.