This is the latest in our Career Perspectives Series. We spoke to Sriram Makineedi, IIT Kharagpur, IIM Lucknow, Ex- BCG on Careers in Consulting and his stint in The Boston Consulting Group.
Here is an incident that happened to me a few days ago, the type that is replicated on a near daily basis across almost all B-schools in the land. It was around midnight that me and my project group came to know that an assignment and presentation we’d thought wasn’t due for another 2 weeks was in fact due come the morning class in 9 hours’ time. It wasn’t a herculean assignment but no pushover either, and many of us were busy with other things at the time. In spite of that, although there were questions asked about whether we would be able to do it in time, there was no going down on one’s knees to ask for divine intervention (which usually means praying for the professor to fall sick and cancel the class). At the end of the day, there was a calm division of labour, the work was finished and we even managed to get some sleep.
It's Sunday. You are out on your monthly shopping trip to stock up on consumables. In the brief visit, you see Harley Davidson perfumes and baby clothes, Ponds toothpastes, Coca-Cola T-shirts, and Heinz detergents. You wonder if you are seeing things. Don't worry. Your eyesight is fine. What you are witnessing are classic examples of brand extensions.
This is a continuation of Sayali Patil's series on leadership lessons from Harry Potter. Starting from Harry himself ( his courage, his ability to inspire, and the fact that he was trustworthy), we moved to the feared Lord Voldemort (never-say-die approach, ability to manage and execute) and then Albus Dumbledore (a master strategist and exemplar). Read those stories here (Harry Potter, and Voldemort and Dumbledore).
Tom Riddle (Voldemort) Antagonist in the Harry Potter series, he terrorizes the reader many times. He has had a disturbing past. He was raised in an orphanage. His leadership style might not connote any positive meaning. Nevertheless, he was able to lead death eaters. This shows that he did possess leadership qualities. He used it for the wrong purposes.
Yesterday, I was sitting on a chair it was the evening time, and then FM radio of my phone went off for few seconds. I thought, I should have an iPod . Then suddenly I realized that I have not used my iPod in last 3 months. And then, more things, i did not use my headphone in last 2 months, DVD player in last 1 month and many more.Now I can say that I bought that headphone just out of impulse, I have used it twice only in last 2 months So, what's wrong and where ...When I look at myself or my friends I can see it everywhere. We are not happy with what we have but all are stressed and not happy for the things we don't have. If You have a Santro, but you want City; You have a City, but you want Skoda. Just after buying a new phone, we need another one. Better laptop, bigger TV, faster car, bigger house, more money, and I means, these examples are endless.
Pioneered by companies such as Heinz and Quaker Oats, the process of branding emerged as a way to enhance consumer perception of mass-produced goods. Brands added a human element to the product – people could put their trust in the brand itself. Today, brands have transformed the process of marketing into one of perception building. Image is everything. Consumers make purchase decisions based on the brand rather than the reality of the product. Perfectly good products can fail as a result of bad branding. While this means brands can become more valuable than their physical assets, it also means they can lose this value overnight. Perception is an ephemeral concept. Failing brands usually commit one or more of the mistakes that have come to be known as the 7 deadly sins of branding.
This is the latest in our Career Perspectives Series. We spoke to Sriram Makineedi, IIT Kharagpur, IIM Lucknow, Ex- BCG on Careers in Consulting and his stint in The Boston Consulting Group.
Here is an incident that happened to me a few days ago, the type that is replicated on a near daily basis across almost all B-schools in the land. It was around midnight that me and my project group came to know that an assignment and presentation we’d thought wasn’t due for another 2 weeks was in fact due come the morning class in 9 hours’ time. It wasn’t a herculean assignment but no pushover either, and many of us were busy with other things at the time. In spite of that, although there were questions asked about whether we would be able to do it in time, there was no going down on one’s knees to ask for divine intervention (which usually means praying for the professor to fall sick and cancel the class). At the end of the day, there was a calm division of labour, the work was finished and we even managed to get some sleep.
It's Sunday. You are out on your monthly shopping trip to stock up on consumables. In the brief visit, you see Harley Davidson perfumes and baby clothes, Ponds toothpastes, Coca-Cola T-shirts, and Heinz detergents. You wonder if you are seeing things. Don't worry. Your eyesight is fine. What you are witnessing are classic examples of brand extensions.
This is a continuation of Sayali Patil's series on leadership lessons from Harry Potter. Starting from Harry himself ( his courage, his ability to inspire, and the fact that he was trustworthy), we moved to the feared Lord Voldemort (never-say-die approach, ability to manage and execute) and then Albus Dumbledore (a master strategist and exemplar). Read those stories here (Harry Potter, and Voldemort and Dumbledore).
Tom Riddle (Voldemort) Antagonist in the Harry Potter series, he terrorizes the reader many times. He has had a disturbing past. He was raised in an orphanage. His leadership style might not connote any positive meaning. Nevertheless, he was able to lead death eaters. This shows that he did possess leadership qualities. He used it for the wrong purposes.
Yesterday, I was sitting on a chair it was the evening time, and then FM radio of my phone went off for few seconds. I thought, I should have an iPod . Then suddenly I realized that I have not used my iPod in last 3 months. And then, more things, i did not use my headphone in last 2 months, DVD player in last 1 month and many more.Now I can say that I bought that headphone just out of impulse, I have used it twice only in last 2 months So, what's wrong and where ...When I look at myself or my friends I can see it everywhere. We are not happy with what we have but all are stressed and not happy for the things we don't have. If You have a Santro, but you want City; You have a City, but you want Skoda. Just after buying a new phone, we need another one. Better laptop, bigger TV, faster car, bigger house, more money, and I means, these examples are endless.
Pioneered by companies such as Heinz and Quaker Oats, the process of branding emerged as a way to enhance consumer perception of mass-produced goods. Brands added a human element to the product – people could put their trust in the brand itself. Today, brands have transformed the process of marketing into one of perception building. Image is everything. Consumers make purchase decisions based on the brand rather than the reality of the product. Perfectly good products can fail as a result of bad branding. While this means brands can become more valuable than their physical assets, it also means they can lose this value overnight. Perception is an ephemeral concept. Failing brands usually commit one or more of the mistakes that have come to be known as the 7 deadly sins of branding.
