Storyteller, Quizzer, Marcom Pro.
Storyteller, Quizzer, Marcom Pro.
Every year, around this time, I take stock of my books. It is an annual exercise in letting go. I give away and donate books to libraries, foundations and people who might find them useful. Yet, amidst all this decluttering,…
Recently, I wrote my second book, Sri Venkatesa Suprabhatam. It’s a bold attempt to simplify the sacred hymn and make it accessible to everyone. The response was overwhelming. But my biggest marketing lesson came from someone who is not even…
A picture is worth a thousand words. But what happens when the picture communicates an entirely different message from the one a brand intends? There is a fascinating marketing anecdote involving Gerber, the American baby food manufacturer, that illustrates this…
Almost every day, we come across a company proudly announcing that it’s reinventing banking, reimagining healthcare, redefining mobility, or transforming the future of work. Let’s examine the claim. If everyone is reinventing everything, why does ordering food still take 40…
Volvo is known for building some of the world’s safest and most respected cars. But have you ever wondered what the name Volvo actually means? The name Volvo comes from the Latin word volvere, meaning “to roll.” Volvo translates as…
Check your smartphone, laptop, or favorite website, and chances are you are reading a sans-serif font. The term sans-serif comes from French and means “without serifs,” referring to the absence of the small decorative strokes found at the ends of…
Look closely at the power button on your laptop, phone, TV, or microwave. You will find a vertical line enclosed within a broken circle, representing one of the world’s most successful examples of universal communication. The story begins in the…
A symposium today conjures images of suited professionals in auditoriums, exchanging ideas over slides. But the word has traveled a long way from wine cups to boardrooms. Derived from the Greek symposion (syn = together + posis = drinking), a…
Every press release ends with the same paragraph: a fixed, polished description of the company that never changes regardless of the news above it. In PR, this is the boilerplate. But the name has nothing to do with public relations.…