Just came across this article involving a very risky yet pretty interesting marketing strategy by Ford. To quote the article, it "tests the limits of social media branding".
To promote the new Fiesta, Ford will hand over new cars to 100 youngsters from various social & economical strata and they will document their experiences through various social media. Ford has taken a HUGE risk here since they will have no control over what the recipients post (for 6 months). Social media being soaked in so much and so fast, one of the biggest brands in the world faces a danger of becoming a social pariah. Moreover, the Fiesta as a model is well-accepted and well-entrenched in people's minds.
For 6 months, having no control over what consumers write about you and that being your only contact with your audience - is it stupidity? No, I don't think so. With GM facing inevitable bankruptcy, Toyota making its 1st quarterly loss in years and Ford itself in danger of becoming irrelevant in its own bastion, the US, this experiment could provide a fresh lease of life and build a connect with the youth. With people, who do not even consider the car or the brand. And, no car company is a clear favourite among the twenty-something-just-started-working population. PLUS, you build the brand globally. Social media knows no geographical scope and is the cheapest and most endearing form of communication. The step by Ford is extending to digital marketing by making the consumers the advertisers. Creatives, choice of media vehicle - everything is now upto the consumer... Empowerment at the greatest.
Seeding, as you can call this phenomenon, has been around for a while. Gadget companies do it with bloggers, FMCG companies or service providers have done it with opinion leaders in the past. And these days, it is these tech-savvy no-nonsense demographic that is the clear opinion leader, and globally influencing too.
The flip-side though is when the car itself is not that great. As the article points out, Chevy has suffered in the past. But I do not think Ford would have embarked on this journey if it wasn't sure of a winner. I also feel the responsibility given to the consumer will make sure no frivolity seeps into the whole idea.
So get ready to see videos, pictures, blogs, tweets and status updates about the new Ford Fiesta soon. It sure is a bold step and will open up newer frontiers and avenues. Kudos to Ford!
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
The Linea
I am sure most guys love cars... Like a normal guy, was hoping to have a decent choice buying my next car. With a limited budget, always thought that Suzuki Swift would be the only option. And then, the Fiat Linea was launched.
Have always loved the Fiat Palio from day one. But its after-sales service, build quality, mileage etc. were issues which didn't make for intelligent buying. But I was in love with Fiat cars for sure. When the Linea was launched, the words for me were sexy, stunning, amazing, beautiful and WOW!
Moreover after seeing every publication, car enthusiast, critic, TV show going ga-ga and proving that finally Fiat had got it right, I am just tempted every day by the thought of buying one. Its over-budget for me for sure, but then the answer to that is wait for the 'Grande Punto' which will be competing with the likes of the Swift and the Fabia. It can't be bad at all after the Linea. Also, it just doesn't help that my neighbour has a shiny black Linea outside my door and I pass it every day :(
And the punchline - "Admiration Guaranteed..." is bang-on. Look at this video and I guarantee you'll fall in love with the car. The video is aptly titled "Fiat Linea fascination" ;)
Go droool...
More on the Linea at what it can make you do. Look at the ad below:
Fresh Ho Jaao
Am in love with this ad... Somehow all of Limca's and Liril's ads have stuck with the freshness theme but they do manage to get creative...
This ad also has a 2 min song (and video). Its simple, yet have to say FRESH :)
Something to do with the tune, the lyrics, the treatment... can't say. But the overall effect I get is refreshing.
The lyrics are also quite meaningful... exhorting you to break the rut in your life and break out once in a while...
“Fuhaarein, bochharein, nazaaare chura lo na, kuch boondein chura lo na; Thaki si zindagi se, ruki si zindagi se, kuch lamhe chura lo na…;
Kuch yaddein, aur sapne, apne chura lo na; Ruki si zindagi se, thaki si zindagi se, raftaarein chura lo na…”
This ad also has a 2 min song (and video). Its simple, yet have to say FRESH :)
Something to do with the tune, the lyrics, the treatment... can't say. But the overall effect I get is refreshing.
The lyrics are also quite meaningful... exhorting you to break the rut in your life and break out once in a while...
“Fuhaarein, bochharein, nazaaare chura lo na, kuch boondein chura lo na; Thaki si zindagi se, ruki si zindagi se, kuch lamhe chura lo na…;
Kuch yaddein, aur sapne, apne chura lo na; Ruki si zindagi se, thaki si zindagi se, raftaarein chura lo na…”
Monday, April 06, 2009
Nails in the fence...
A forward I keep forgetting to implement in my life...
NAILS IN THE FENCE
There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, 'You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same.
When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. But It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Have been a really lazy blogger...been ages since I last added any post. Wanted to write so much about so many things, but guess its all in the past.
There's been a new addition to the blogosphere, and what a personality - Mr. Amitabh Bachchan as most of you would be knowing has started his very own blog on bigadda.com (the URL is http://blogs.bigadda.com/ab ). Now, if such a busy man could write regularly, I am sure I too can spare a few precious minutes of my useless life (at the moment, I am just waiting for my job to start, doing nothing at all...)
Hope to spend more time blogging and saying things which made or broke my day, which affected me in any way or just plain crap about life.
Adios!!!
There's been a new addition to the blogosphere, and what a personality - Mr. Amitabh Bachchan as most of you would be knowing has started his very own blog on bigadda.com (the URL is http://blogs.bigadda.com/ab ). Now, if such a busy man could write regularly, I am sure I too can spare a few precious minutes of my useless life (at the moment, I am just waiting for my job to start, doing nothing at all...)
Hope to spend more time blogging and saying things which made or broke my day, which affected me in any way or just plain crap about life.
Adios!!!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Something I was...
Love this song...Kisi Ki Muskurahaton Pe Ho Nisaar from the film Anari (1959) by Raj Kapoor. Always wanted to be such a person. Alas, as time flew realised quite the contrary.
Can we actually be so nice...I want to be. Being nasty or rude or scheming isn't me. I would rather be innocent (alas...) and honest and caring. Infact I was caring, really really caring. But not for long...
Without boring you further...here's the video of the song...sung beautifully by Mukesh for Raj Kapoor
Priorities in Life
An interesting anecdote I came across sometime back...
______________________________________________________________
A professor stood before his Philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.
The students responded with a unanimous "yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life."
"The golf balls are the important things - your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favourite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. "
"The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else--the small stuff."
"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life."
"If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.
Play another 18.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.
Set your priorities."
"The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked.
"It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a cup of coffee with a friend."
______________________________________________________________
A professor stood before his Philosophy class and had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.
They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.
The students responded with a unanimous "yes."
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life."
"The golf balls are the important things - your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favourite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. "
"The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else--the small stuff."
"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life."
"If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.
Play another 18.
There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.
Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.
Set your priorities."
"The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked.
"It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a cup of coffee with a friend."
Questions galore...
This blog was written by me at CNN-IBN blogs on http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/author/1388/2722/gujaratblogs.html
_______________________________________________________________
Until the elections actually got over and I got around arguing with some friends why Narendra Modi aka "NaMo" should or should not be voted for, I actually never thought from the other side.
It goes this way. On a freezing Monday night, at Lucknow, sitting around a bonfire, I overheard some discussion about the Gujarat elections. Being known for my staunch anti-Modi comments, I naturally made myself part of the discussion. The group of 5 (plus 1-2 floaters) soon started on why or why not Modi?
Like most anti-riot supporters, my thoughts started and ended on one thought - that Modi aided the mass genocide post-Godhra and how all his positives cannot take that stain off him. The pro-Modi classmate of mine asked me one simple question: "Why did thousands of people come out and actually rallied against the Muslims? Is allowing riots to happen enough to actually make those Hindus come out in the open, to go and make them kill?" My answer remained the same, that it is in the innate self that every human being should find the answer. Every stone does not have to be answered with a brick. But the apparent, simple yet shocking truth behind his subsequent words actually had me hestitating for a reply. He asked me that "ofcourse there was this hatred inside those men, maybe not all, but atleast 80% of them, that drove them to riot. That decades of communal violence, killing of their families, neighbours etc had rooted deep inside them, a rage, that boiled over post-Godhra."
Not that he justified what happened, nor am I doing the same, but why this hatred? Or what is the solution to the ghettoisation that has happened in most corners of the country? How do we remove this hatred? Is minority appeasement actually benefitting us? Suddenly, there were no clear answers, atleast not practically.
Though we anti-Modi guys managed to make them concede their initial point and accept that as the responsibility of the state, and as an elected leader, Modi was wrong in allowing the riots. But the questions continue to linger. Is it enough to say that he is wrong? And that Congress leaders in 1984 also were wrong? Its too idealistic to say that ok, we should not kill in response to a killing. Apparently, and obviously, human emotions in these cases are too fragile.
Our politicians, cutting across party lines have been using the communal card for their vested benefits since a long time. Either in the form of Hindutva, or minority appeasement, the society has always been taken for a ride.
Ideally, yes, Modi should be punished. Yes, but after that what are the steps we take to make us Indians take as much pride in our social and communal fabric too as we take in our economic progress or our cultural richness. Anyone out there with an answer?
_______________________________________________________________
Until the elections actually got over and I got around arguing with some friends why Narendra Modi aka "NaMo" should or should not be voted for, I actually never thought from the other side.
It goes this way. On a freezing Monday night, at Lucknow, sitting around a bonfire, I overheard some discussion about the Gujarat elections. Being known for my staunch anti-Modi comments, I naturally made myself part of the discussion. The group of 5 (plus 1-2 floaters) soon started on why or why not Modi?
Like most anti-riot supporters, my thoughts started and ended on one thought - that Modi aided the mass genocide post-Godhra and how all his positives cannot take that stain off him. The pro-Modi classmate of mine asked me one simple question: "Why did thousands of people come out and actually rallied against the Muslims? Is allowing riots to happen enough to actually make those Hindus come out in the open, to go and make them kill?" My answer remained the same, that it is in the innate self that every human being should find the answer. Every stone does not have to be answered with a brick. But the apparent, simple yet shocking truth behind his subsequent words actually had me hestitating for a reply. He asked me that "ofcourse there was this hatred inside those men, maybe not all, but atleast 80% of them, that drove them to riot. That decades of communal violence, killing of their families, neighbours etc had rooted deep inside them, a rage, that boiled over post-Godhra."
Not that he justified what happened, nor am I doing the same, but why this hatred? Or what is the solution to the ghettoisation that has happened in most corners of the country? How do we remove this hatred? Is minority appeasement actually benefitting us? Suddenly, there were no clear answers, atleast not practically.
Though we anti-Modi guys managed to make them concede their initial point and accept that as the responsibility of the state, and as an elected leader, Modi was wrong in allowing the riots. But the questions continue to linger. Is it enough to say that he is wrong? And that Congress leaders in 1984 also were wrong? Its too idealistic to say that ok, we should not kill in response to a killing. Apparently, and obviously, human emotions in these cases are too fragile.
Our politicians, cutting across party lines have been using the communal card for their vested benefits since a long time. Either in the form of Hindutva, or minority appeasement, the society has always been taken for a ride.
Ideally, yes, Modi should be punished. Yes, but after that what are the steps we take to make us Indians take as much pride in our social and communal fabric too as we take in our economic progress or our cultural richness. Anyone out there with an answer?
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Yaaron...
One of the loveliest songs on friendship and love to have comeo out of the Bollywood music studios...Everytime I hear this, I feel so incapable of ever managing to offer a friendship as mentioned in the lyrics.
Kudos to KK for this song as well as one of my other favourites, Pal!
Friday, December 23, 2005
Cairn Energy to name its oil field after Ash
An ode to my everlasting admiration for Ash...A report on hindustantimes.com:
Aishwarya Rai is a living goddess for the Cairn Energy, which has so far named its oilfields after Indian goddesses, the ones that are worshipped by millions.
The Scottish oil and gas company, led by the former rugby International Bill Gammell had named the field that transformed the company from a minnow into a FTSE 100 giant, Mangala. Another field is called Vandana.
But now a field is to be called Aishwarya. Cairn told a royal exchange commentator that the idea followed an impromptu meeting at 30000 feet. That is when a group of Cairn Energy executives saw and met Aishwarya Rai on a plane. They thought if so far they had been naming fields after mythological goddesses why not name one after a "living goddess".
So, now Aishwarya Rai is immortalised in "oil". So far she was a "legend" in wax (at Madame Tussaud's).
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