MY ENCOUNTERS WITH SUSHANT SINGH RAJPUT

Steve Jobs once mentioned in a commencement speech about 'Connecting the Dots'. Now, when I look back at my various near and far encounters with Sushant Singh Rajput, I see those dots.

All who follow Indian cinema know that Sushant Singh died on 14th June 2020 and we are now discovering so many new facets and dimensions of him and his intelligence.

Let me share my four encounters with him:

2013: Met him for the first time a few years back at an actor friend's party. He was preparing for the movie Dhoni back then.

2015: Nestle India signed him for Munch just a few months after I moved from Munch to Kitkat. For days, the new Munch ad with Sushant used to keep playing on computer screens near me and the jingle got etched in my memory

2019: I was in a bus when I saw him on the streets of Switzerland. I tweeted to him to check if it was him and he confirmed by liking the tweet.

Two days later, I saw a post of Sushant on his Instagram feed where he posted a picture of him feeding birds and the place was right below my apartment.

I missed him by a whisker in the last three encounters and thought I will meet him again someday. Alas, that was not to happen.

My biggest lesson from this:

When alive, celebrate the man. When dead, celebrate his life.

TESLA TRUMPS TOWARDS THE TOP!

Just a week back, in a Fortune 500 CEO survey, CEOs mentioned Tesla as a stock that they would go short on. 

Now, we have this graph that shows that Tesla is the world's most valuable automaker! In fact, Tesla’s valuation has jumped by an impressive 375% since this time last year!

In fact, as you can see from the size of the bubbles, other than Toyota, no other auto manufacturer comes anywhere close to Tesla.

Elon Musk has a tendency to surprise everyone every time people try to write him off.

This story is not yet over, so fasten your seat belts and keep watching this space!

THE YIN AND YANG OF LEADERSHIP

Quite often, people associate the term strategy with leaders but not execution.

However, true and successful leaders know it quite well that

Leadership = Strategy + Execution

A leader who focuses only on one of these aspects and chooses to ignore the other cannot be an effective leader for a long time.

This is true for leaders of all kinds - those running a company, a business, a brand, a team or even a nation.

In fact, business consultant and author of the book 'Coauthor of Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done' Ram Charan says it quite well:

"Many people regard execution as detail work that’s beneath the dignity of a business leader. That’s wrong…it’s a leader’s most important job."

Sister's Ice Cream

Here is a little piece of inspiration that should make you smile and admire the creativity behind it.

Sister's is a homemade ice cream from Iran, made by three sisters. The packaging design has been done in a way to represent the identities of the manufacturers, clearly mentioning that it is homemade ice cream.

It has also been designed to ensure that the packs stand out in comparison to other big and small players in the market.

The spark of colour, representing the flavours on a nice and soothing white background stands out and gives it a fresh, cool and summery look. The smart use of the illustration to show the different hair style brings the fun element.

I am not sure how big the #brand is, how strong its distribution is and whether this concept has been scaled up or not. I do hope that this #packaging is helping the brand win the consumers' hearts and share of wallet!

FATHER'S DAY

I was just reviewing the latest communication work from different #brands across various countries for the occasion of Father's Day until I came across this ad from Titan Company Limited.

At first, it felt like a very predictable ad with a story line that has been seen before. The use of black and white to evoke nostalgia also seemed like something that is not new.

I was about to stop watching it midway, but then I continued watching it, and I am glad I did!

The ad caught me by surprise, brought a smile on my face and I had to see the ad again to see those scenes once again.

Great job Ogilvy. It is quite refreshing.

TAKE A CHANCE

ost of the times, when I see a #job posting, I notice that experience of that industry is mentioned as a prerequisite. Recruiters shortlist or reject applications basis the filter of whether a person has worked in the industry or not. I believe that this approach often makes you lose out on lot of good talent.

One can learn about the #industry on the job too, as long as the person comes with the right values, attitude and aptitude that blends well with the #culture of the organisation.

In my career, I have changed industries thrice. I moved from #retail to #FMCG and then to #B2B in Nutrition. Every time, I was able to do it because someone was willing to take a chance on me, and go beyond the requirement of the industry experience filter. I am thankful to each one of them.

In fact, if you look at some of the successful corporate leaders, they have changed paths, moved to different industries and yet done so well in their careers.

Whenever I recruit, I never let the lack of industry experience stop me from shortlisting an application if the rest of the CV is interesting and exciting.

So my message to all the recruiters and the managers out there is this: Take A Chance and you will be surprised to find some rare gems.

TOXIC PEOPLE

Whether it is your professional life or personal life, you will always encounter certain toxic people. These people will sap out the energy from you, frustrate you and will make it difficult for you to succeed.

It is extremely important to try and stay away from such people as much as possible, keeping your mind positive and focused on the goals that you have set for yourself.

Here is a ready reckoner of a few types of toxic people that you can identify by their behavior and characteristics. Recognize them and then maintain your distance with them. In this case, the social distancing should be maintained at all times!

UNBOX IT

#Unboxing is a phenomenon that gained momentum with the proliferation of gadgets and digital products. So much so, that the unboxing videos on #YouTube gets thousands of views.

Now if you are a smart #brand, you will pick up a trend of one category and apply it nicely to your category. This is what #Adidas does with their ZX 2K BOOST footwear, which are supposed to be quite advanced footwear in terms of design and technology.

So, these shoes also come packed in this specially designed box, which has been called 'Premium Artifact' by the design agency.

This custom engineered box offers a truly unique unveiling and comes adorned in its own retro, space-tech reusable carrying case. All the material is 100% #recyclable.

I find the #packaging quite cool and goes well with the brand personality.

INNOVATION THROUGH DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP

#Innovation is not only about great insights, strong products and exemplary execution, it is also about people management as it is people who bring ideas, grow ideas, share ideas and then turn those ideas into innovation success stories.

Here are 9 ways to foster innovation through diversity #leadership that will help you manage your teams, your launches and your innovation pipeline.

CLEAN AIR NOW!

We can only change 2030 if we all demand a change in 2020 - such a powerful line!

What makes it even more powerful are these images from Greenpeace where the top portion of the image is a visual of our beautiful planet, which has then been juxtaposed to another image at the bottom that shows how industries and factories are polluting the environment through their careless methods and ways.

This is a a great example of responsible and impactful #advertising that makes you sit up and notice. It doesn't stop at just the visuals and the message only. There is also a call to action, where they are asking people to pledge support.

Great job by Ogilvy

CRISIS COMMUNICATION : DO'S AND DON'TS

They say that a crisis is the perfect ground for new leaders to emerge and existing leaders to show how strong or weak their leadership is.

The basic expectation that everyone has from a leader is the right kind of #Communication - internal as well as external.

Over the past few weeks, we have seen some of the companies and their #leadership teams managing the situation quite well whereas there have been companies that have bungled this up completely.

Although, more and more countries are starting to reduce the lockdown measures, the problem is not completely over, and hence the expectations from leaders to communicate during this crisis, will continue to remain high.

Here is a set of Do's and Don'ts that can be very helpful in building the right kind of executive narrative.

DATA VOCABULARY

As we continue to take accelerated steps towards a more digitalized world, there is going to be more and more data that will be created and stored on the Internet and the cloud.

So, 1 MB and 1 GB are soon going to be a thing of the past. We have already reached a stage where 1 EB (Exabyte) of data is being created each day!

Projections are that we are soon heading towards Brontobyte and beyond.

Here's a mind-boggling fact: A 1BB hard drive would cover the earth 23,000 times!

Time to upgrade our data vocabulary then.

WORLDWIDE REPUTABLE COMPANIES 2020

As per the Global RepTrak 2020 survey, the most reputable companies of 2020 are:

1. 🇩🇰 : Lego
2. 🇺🇸 : The Walt Disney Company
3. 🇨🇭 : Rolex
4. 🇮🇹 : Ferrari
5. 🇺🇸 : Microsoft
6. 🇺🇸 : Levi Strauss & Co
7. 🇺🇸 : Netflix
8. 🇩🇪 : Adidas
9. 🇩🇪 : Bosch
10. 🇺🇸 : Intel

How was this determined?
The 2020 Global RepTrak was conducted between December 2019 and January 2020 and considered 80,540 individual responses from across the world’s 15 largest economies: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S.

There were a total of 153 companies measured, who all have a global footprint and annual revenue of at least $2 billion.

It should be the goal, the dream and the aspiration of every company to feature in this list.

FLIGHTS OF IMAGINATION

#Flights may have stopped flying but that does not stop humans from flying. In fact, lockdown or no lockdown, humans never stop flying.

AirAsia has come up with a very nicely made film that depicts the various emotions, dimensions and interpretations of flying for different individuals. It is a crowd sourced film shot by Wunderman Thompson South Asia that captures the human spirit so well and shows what flying means to various people.

Chances are that some of these interpretations of flying would resonate with you as well. In fact, there is a bit of poetry in these visuals, as they take a leap of faith and give wings to the flights of imagination that we all have.

PictureStory : Control

This was an event that many generations had not seen in their lifetime. Before this, for every other cause or problem, all the countries of the world would never be united or aligned to the same view. Some would look at an issue in one way, while others would vehemently disagree and bring a completely different point of view. As a result of these differences, many global problems remained unresolved, simply because the powers never saw eye to eye.

However, this situation was completely different. It was affecting every country and every citizen in the world. No one was untouched by it in some way or the other. It was the first time that nations of the world were talking to each other, learning from each other and working hand in hand to fight the common enemy. An enemy so small, yet an enemy so powerful.

The strategy in every battle and war is to study the enemy, understand its modus operandi, analyze its strategy and then form your attack plans. Now, what do you do when there is no understanding of the enemy, no idea of where it will strike next, no clue of the scale of devastation that it will cause?

The only approach in such a case is to try to control it from various possible angles. So you have some countries trying to develop vaccines for it, some others using testing kits to measure its scale, while some others deploying the method of lockdowns to curtail it.

In fact, if you were to visualize the approach of these nations, you could easily imagine a number of kids climbing a big yak of the mountains from the top, from the front, from the back without knowing how the yak moves and what part of its body it uses to attack.

The irony was the fact that the big yak was actually a small, invisible virus to the naked eye - Coronavirus, whereas the small kids on top of the yak were the various big and powerful nations, trying to control it!

                      Pic Details: Clicked in Vevey, Switzerland in May 2020

VOICE DOODLES

'Necessity is the mother of invention.' Here also, the necessity of parents wanting to educate and entertain their kids led to the invention and innovation of Voice Doodles.

Wyeth Nutrition China has partnered with Ogilvy and launched “Voice Doodler,” on WeChat that allows parents and children to create stories live, using their voices!

What is amazing is the fact that people can narrate their stories and see their stories and words come to life through animated illustrations, right in front of their eyes!

You can then share your stories, your imagination and creativity with others as well.

Check out the video below to see how this brilliant #innovation works.

COLORS OF THE WORLD

We all know what is happening in #USA and how racism is rearing its ugly head. #Racism is not limited to any one geography, but an issue that exists in almost every country in some form or the other.

One of the ways to overcome this is to educate the children at schools and at home, talk to them about the equality of every skin colour and teach them the values of #respect, #equality, #diversity and #inclusion.

Other than parents, companies and brands that are in the education space can and must play a big role.

I am extremely glad to see Crayola launch this special pack of 24 colors 'Colors of the World', developed with the help of Victor Casale, former MAC Cosmetics chief chemist and current MOB Beauty CEO, to represent “over 40 global skin tones.” For generations, kids were limited to just one or two colors among their art materials to represent skin tones, if any at all. Now, no more.

“Crayola wants every child to be able to color themselves and the people they love by using crayons that accurately mirror them,” the company reveals in a press release. The “colors of the world” are grouped into three main shades: ‘Almond’, ‘Golden’, and ‘Rose’, indicating the cool and warm tones of various complexions.

Images credit: PRNewswire

USA - United Sodas of America

For the last few years, the carbonated beverages segment has been bearing the brunt of being seen as unhealthy and too sweet. Moreover, the battle of market share has largely been limited to two giants - Coca Cola and Pepsico.

Amidst the #Coronavirus pandemic, when companies think twice before launching a product, a New York based start-up company, United Sodas of America has launched a range of sodas that are extremely low on sugar and contain only 30 calories.

There is a total of 12 distinct flavors, ranging from Young Mango, Extra Peach, Pear Elderflower, Strawberry Basil, Orange Nectarine,Toasted Coconut, Sour Blueberry, Blackberry Jam, White Grape, Lemon Verbena, Gingery Ale and Cherry Pop.

I really like their #packaging. It has some nice, summery colours, simple fonts and minimalist #design.

Their website https://unitedsodas.com/ has also been designed with minimalism in mind. It is easy to navigate and right on the top of the home page, there is the option to shop for all the flavours, limited only to America.

I just wonder... if they become big and decide to expand beyond USA, would they still retain this name for their products?

GROWING AND DECLINING RETAIL BRANDS

It should be no surprise to us that retail sector across the world has taken a massive hit due to Coronavirus.

However, there have been #retail chains (online and offline) that were agile enough to change their business models or had the right offering to provide to customers, and as a result they have gained significantly in this period over 2019.

The biggest gainers have come from four countries:
- #Canada : Lululemon
- #USA: Target, Amazon (no surprise), Walmart, Costco Wholesale, Sam's Club
- #China: Alibaba.com and JD.com (No surprises here either)
- #India: Flipkart and Tanishq

The brands that have declined the most come from:
- USA: Under Armour, Subway, Dunkin, The North Face
- UK: Burberry, Marks and Spencer
- #Sweden: H&M
- Canada: Tim Hortons
- #Japan: Uniqlo

I expect some of these numbers to change as the effects of the pandemic benefit some further and hit others harder.