Be it the planned ICC Worldcup in our immediate backyard happening now or the unplanned Middle-east uprising in the land of black gold every event planned or unplanned, good or bad, relevant or distant makes the marketers of 21st century to stay on the toes cutting across boundaries, nations, geographies, cultures as to how it will impact their product, service or brand positioning in the eyes, hearts and minds of the consumer, customer, client and offcourse the Citizen all stakeholders in their own right.

First two months of 2011 presented and continues to present, with such a challenge to the world from middle east to companies, countries and communities who have been directly or indirectly impacted by the crisis, possibly an opportunity in disguise for marketers.

The crisis is essentially an opportunity to establish the relevance of brand identity, equity and clarity be it the reach and relevance of Social Media Platform like Twitters of the world in today’s context or Global organisations like United Nations of yes’day in shaping the society of tomorrow in how well they respond to the event.

Same is the case with independent nations, international banks, individual leaders, institutions of higher learning as to what position, message and conviction they choose to convey during such demanding scenarios sets the credibility, which inturn creates the visibility for the respective “Brand” during & post crisis.

Will US Pres go beyond talking the walk to walking the talk on universal rights, how will Swiss law evaluate the need for human rights in comparison to personal privacy, will the london school acknowledge the need for Principle before accepting the seed money of Patrons, will Global banks help decode the abusive tyrant’s money trail, in helping build a better society beyond the text book lip service from yes’day’s complusions.

This is not just a time for free marketing campaign but also a place for brand positioning in history beyond the freedom which it will help achieve ; along with providing an opportunity to connect & communicate beyond a traditional stakeholder constituency for the marketers behind the Brand.

Thanks!

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By the end of 2012, South Korea intends to connect every home in the country to the Internet at one gigabit per second. That would be a tenfold increase from the already blazing national standard and more than 200 times as fast as the average household setup in the United States. A lot of Koreans are early adopters and the govt is getting prepared for things like 3-D TV, Internet protocol TV, high-definition multimedia, gaming and videoconferencing, ultra-high-definition TV, cloud computing.

Japan has launched a satellite to improve bandwidth for its citizens. A telecom revolution is brewing again in the US. http://gigaom.com/broadband/we-will-soon-live-in-a-100-gbps-world/

And we are still grappling with a 2G scam and a 2 hour download for a 36 mb file….. we deserve our politicians!

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India’s theme at Davos this year was “Inclusive India”. On Sunday, as the event concluded, several world leaders recommended inclusive growth as the way to go, in reviving economies all across. I watched a debate on a news channel featuring India’s home minister Chidambaram, ICICI’s CEO, Chanda Kochhar and a few others on this topic. What I observed is that, from being a fashionable political statement, inclusive growth has now become a business strategy! What with ideas like bottom of the pyramid and the long tail gaining acceptance, and markets like India and China exhibiting different characteristics than the US and developed countries, businesses are beginning to look at how to re-engineer their outlook to target a larger population, and hence be more inclusive!

One will definitely see the emergence of new business models and ideas in the years to come; in India, for example, there are already sufficient examples in the microfinance space.

What do you think? Can inclusive growth be a real driver for businesses?

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The World Economic Forum was kicked off yesterday with an address by the president of the Russian federation, Dmitry Medvedev. Unsurprisingly the theme for this year is Shared Norms for the New Reality- a reflection that we live in a world that is on one hand in a state of transition with changing equations and at at the same time struggling to arrive at a new equilibrium. The developed nations are finding it hard to give up their privileged positions while emerging economies are beginning to hold their own.

It will be interesting to watch developments from the sidelines. More on this as the event unfolds…………

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I am afraid this blogpost might have lost its currency. After all, Obama’s visit is almost a month old and the entire media hullabaloo has died down. But a couple of days ago I read this http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article903883.ece

I source courage from P.Sainath, whose candor and commitment to hard hitting facts usually have the ability to renew interest in old issues. Sainath’s criticism is limited to demolishing the rosy picture painted by the media about Obama’s visit and what it does to Indian business and international politics.

However, among the different voices of criticism/ protests against the Obama visit that were ignored by the media, there is one that stands out. And what’s more, it has significant implications for the deep engagement in corporate India that the USA has sought. As Obama landed in Mumbai, about a 100 survivors of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy protested outside the Union Carbide Factory in Bhopal. Their demand was that Obama should ensure that both Union Carbide and Dow Chemicals submit to Indian laws and abide by the decisions made in Indian courts.

In 1984, the pesticide plant of Union Carbide, India spewed poisonous methyl-iso-cyanate in a congested part of Bhopal, killing over 3,000 overnight. In addition, the contamination has taken a toll on Bhopal’s population over the last 20 odd years. As the environment in Bhopal continues to be contaminated, Union Carbide has not only reneged on the compensation to be paid to the victims but has also refused to clean up after itself. In June 2010, an Indian court verdict found Union Carbide India Ltd and seven of its top executives of that time guilty of criminal negligence. Meanwhile, in 2001, Dow Chemicals took over Union Carbide.  Dow has categorically refused to take responsibility for Union Carbide’s actions.

What are the larger questions of significance in this context for the future of Indian business with the USA? Most obvious is, ofcourse, when there is a merger, to whom does the legal liability belong? There is, however, another elephant in the room. The 20 year ordeal of seeking justice in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy case has obviously meant that certain systems need to be in place. Because of the involvement of two countries, the situation is even more complicated. There are two systems of laws and they each provide enough loop holes. What we have seen in the last 20 years is a systematic failure of both these systems to work in tandem to deliver justice.

This is where Obama comes in. In this atmosphere of great business bonhomie between the two countries, it would be worthwhile to think of a shared set of rules to safeguard both people and buisnesses. Should an accident take place, justice can be speedily delivered. It takes political will to engage in this manor, which, unfortunately, was lacking from both sides. Unfortunately, corporate India also doesn’t seem to have understood the significance of such engagement for further business. Would love to hear what you have to say.

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Steeped in controversy from the very start, the nation and the world of the commonwealth heaved a collective sigh of relief as the Commonwealth Games took off on Sunday. The opening ceremony was not only without incident but was also considered a rather spectacular show of prowess and culture. Quite predictably, the rest of the games, now hinging on the performance of participant players, will continue to be uneventful, and one wouldn’t be too off the mark if one hoped that this is the end of the long list of controversies that have been the Commonwealth Games. Brand India’s image has been salvaged, after all. It would be unfortunate, however, if that was the end to our mandate to resolve these controversies.  It would offer a stark commentary about our society and its function or dysfunction, as the case may be.

Here is a ready reckoner of some of the unresolved issues courtesy the CWG that need closer scrutiny after. Starting with the most recent and prominent one, the CWG was criticized both by the local and international media, for being tardy and shoddy in its provision of services to the participants. There have also been allegations of mismanagement of funds which tops all other controversies in terms of seriousness.  Indian tax payers and citizens sure would like to know why this happened and what needs to be done to prevent something like this in the future. Second, there were questions raised concerning the displacement of the poor and the homeless in the pre-games ‘clean-up’ of Delhi. There were also many allegations that labour laws and minimum wage rules were flouted. And, to revert to the original question, was India in a position (economically and other wise) to hold the CWG? Policy makers and people’s representatives must deliberate on these issues because it has a bearing on the macro paradigm of development adopted by the country. Brand India must resolve these questions before an Olympics hosting is upon us.

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