Tag: strategy
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“Insights” as revelations of hidden optionalities
As the world moves faster and drags the advertising industry along with it, the concept of ‘insight’, which resolutely stood at the centre of the advertising industry for long, is appearing blurred. Often, we find ourselves in meeting rooms sharing a scratch of the head, “what’s an insight, anyways?”. Here’s my take. What is an […]
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Optionality Framework: A Brand Strategy Framework for a World in Flux.
Note: This article adapts NN Taleb’s idea about ‘optionality’ from his excellent book ‘ Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder‘; and uses research from Richard Bulliet’s book The Camel and the Wheel. Camel or a car? Can you imagine a day when everyone around you stops using automobiles and instead starts riding camel? It turns […]
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Evolving for times of Crises
Covid-19 has knocked the wind out of the global machine that humanity lives in. It has shattered our illusions of stability, our belief in global capitalism (about time), our hopes of certain growth forever. It is not just a pandemic. It is a huge question mark that stands tall in front of humanity. What’s the […]
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Slow down to break the stride of bullshit surfers
Surfing Notions Is candy no longer an impulse purchase? Is the world still on the ‘liberal progressive’ journey? Will Amazon/ Facebook ‘surely’ cede control to regulators? Will they fight misinformation honestly? From the trivial to the profound, I find myself in the midst of rushed debates where beautiful questions are raised and then summarily decapitated […]
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The business of transformation
WPP is now a ”creative transformation” company. I am cautiously optimistic about this facelift. I hope there is more to come. And that WPP will go beyond the facelift and the simplification. fingers crossed. But… After Ogilvy‘s ‘refounding’ and Publicis’ marcel attempt and now WPP’s structural simplification & brand identity ‘reveal’, it feels as if […]
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The sudoku problem and the delusion of conservative ad men
This is in response to Mr. Rory sutherland’s article about targeting in advertising. Read that article before reading this one. ______________________________ “By deluding everyone that the whole of advertising is reducible to “the efficient and inexpensive delivery of targeted messages” through the extensive use of data and algorithms, two companies have gained a multi-billion-dollar rent-seeking […]
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The Mad World of Monopolies Over Brains
Microsoft bought semantic machines. Google, FB etc keep buying smart companies all the time. A handful of global companies keep buying smart companies before they can get a product out to the market.They are essentially creating monopolistic moats over not just cutting edge intellectual property, but also the intellectuals – the men and women capable […]
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Essential Mutations for the 21st Century Brands
1. Rise of the walls 21st century weather report The world is reeling under the hate wave of right wing xenophobia, binaries of ‘Us vs. Them‘. The hate wave is projected to continue and expand as people turn their back on ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity, which had yielded unequal fruits for the globalised […]
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Advertising industry’s new ‘Pivot’
No planet for old businesses Exhibit 1: On 16 June 2017, Amazon.com Inc. announced that it is acquiring Whole Foods Market Inc., for $13.7 billion in an all-cash transaction. By the end of that day, Walmart, Kroger, Target & Costco had lost their market caps by 5.8%, 7.1%, 9.1% and 15.7% respectively. On the eighth […]
Truth About Branding 