tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339432232012-01-30T07:03:18.769+08:00people, culture, technology and future..Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.comBlogger1711100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-45478039800308894872011-05-01T01:40:00.004+08:002011-05-01T01:45:26.799+08:00

In the past four weeks we have seen two examples of swarm-style purchase frenzies by Chinese shoppers.The first occasion was the panic-buying of common salt. Shoppers were under the impression that the iodine in salt could help in protecting them from the negative effects of nuclear radiation coming out of Japan following the earthquake-related nuclear emergency.Stocking up on salt was also

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-89534989916815839382011-03-07T19:05:00.004+08:002011-03-07T19:30:10.722+08:00

A few months back about 50 of China’s business and philanthropy elites came together for a 90-minute discussion over dinner. The venue was a mansion on the edge of Beijing - a gilded and karaoke-equipped rococo castle, modeled after the baroque 17th century Chateau de Maisons-Laffitte in France. The hosts were the billionaire philanthropic duo - Warren Buffet & Bill Gates. Media dubbed the dinner

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-43434600225145381692010-08-02T15:06:00.001+08:002010-08-02T15:08:02.209+08:00

Seven years back I wrote something about impulse buying. The discourse hovered around apparel, fashion accessories, nick knacks, chocolates, confectionary items and frozen desserts. Those were the days when impulse buying was conditioned by shopper’s physical presence in the market. Impulse to buy used to strike when we were window-shopping, or when we were just walking down the street, saw a

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-12125006201272715482010-05-03T15:23:00.010+08:002010-05-03T15:55:11.104+08:00

This is my fourth time in Hong Kong in the past two and a half years. I now feel that know something about this city. Something more than just a passing tourist’s photo stream or Visa hopeful’s city maps. So after a lot of back and forth, mental dribbling and a heavy downpour on my way from the nearest subway station, I decided to pen down my thoughts.Hong Kong is like a moving theatre paused

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-10563144179268290482010-02-01T13:53:00.005+08:002010-02-01T14:06:24.608+08:00

We are yet to see an iPad here in Asia, but it is certain that going by Apple’s legacy – this new device will bring about a change in the way people interact with these kind of devices. Its physical design, social connotations, ease of use, price, and many other facts that we will perhaps discover only when we start using it, can potentially spawn a new economy like the iPhone did with its

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-85510370216938522972010-01-18T12:39:00.005+08:002010-01-18T14:21:22.450+08:00

While going through a recent edition of Businessweek, I came across a story on how publishing houses are trying to put up a front to counter the rising dominance of Amazon (Trying to avert a Digital Horror Story – Businessweek, January 11)There is a mention of how people are interested in paying for a variation on the standard book viz. a single chapter or a searchable database. As a result some

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com135tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-73245840294817690262009-12-15T13:21:00.001+08:002009-12-15T13:25:32.540+08:00

IDC forecasts that by the end of 2009 almost 20 million Netbooks would have been sold. This represents almost 12% of the entire Notebook market. To me this already is a sizable chunk of the mobile computing market.Now step back and imagine what if Netbooks had entered the mobile computing space before the Notebooks did. Would we still prefer the Notebook to the Netbook? Think. To me the real

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-73278494500428029782009-12-14T16:39:00.005+08:002009-12-14T21:47:22.283+08:00

(and Notebook is becoming a Desktop?)Recently my Mandarin teacher introduced me to her newly acquired Lenovo ideapad – a Netboook. It is a small, sexy, simple and solidly built thing. Interestingly enough, my teacher already has a Notebook but she found it too heavy to lug around and thus the Netbook. Did she compromise a lot for this portability? Not really – except for the fact that the screen

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-77759531924547751742009-12-02T16:56:00.002+08:002009-12-02T16:59:17.120+08:00

While in Chengdu for the recent National Day holidays I thought of checking out the departmental near my hotel. I had not walked for more than two minutes inside the electronics section of the store, when I reached an island display announcing a Bag of Rice or a Bottle of Cooking oil as a free gift with every purchase worth more than RMB 500. This was in the middle of names like Nikon, JVC,

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-44739825026542864882009-10-20T17:19:00.004+08:002009-10-20T17:34:03.417+08:00

While sitting in a discussion on competitive advantage of nations, a thought crossed my mind “Japan makes engines, India makes engineers”. I realized, how the ‘Education and Opportunity’ landscape in India groomed world-class minds and yet we still had a long way to go before we could provide an ecosystem that could utilize many of the talented minds from India. Once we could achieve this, we

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-51021618211256000912009-10-05T15:18:00.007+08:002009-10-05T15:26:15.547+08:00

Look at these messages for some of the newer models of cars:Get the link?Bhp and cc and cylinders and turning radius and torque and 0 to 60 in xyz secs and etc and ect. Well, most of the cars used to be marketed around these - one way or the other. But what I see now, especially for some of the newer models of middle to high-end cars is very different. The story seems to be shifting from the

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com101tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-2197257578245761032009-09-28T18:04:00.002+08:002009-09-28T18:16:07.307+08:00

Sony recently unveiled the immensely interesting Party-shot. The dock-like contraption is capable of rotating 360 degrees and tilting 24 degrees. It uses a combination of Sony’s Smile Shutter and Face Detection technology. In other words the camera attached to the Party-shot will seek out profiles and automatically take pictures. But this post is not about the features of this new gadget and the

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-88811349243977432782009-07-31T12:12:00.002+08:002009-07-31T12:15:12.368+08:00

The scenario of Divergence that I talked about in the last post is probable, however its probability hinges on some basic consumer factors. There could be more but I would start by outlining three: 1. What percentage of the total users would like to have separate portable devices for functionalities like taking pictures, navigation, music, games etc?2. Within this group, what percentage of people

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-83088337459637853292009-07-27T15:26:00.002+08:002009-07-27T15:31:06.372+08:00

(It has been a long break (again). I guess too much of work at work is not the best thing for a Blog. Hope to be more regular from here on..)Digital camera, game consoles, e books readers, GPS devices etc, are all familiar gadgets of everyday use. Now imagine all these devices having the ability to hook up to the Internet on their own. • I mean the camera does not need to wait to be near a

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-91830047398904771562009-06-19T17:26:00.007+08:002009-06-19T17:42:45.876+08:00

I did not mean to have such a long gap between my last post on this subject and this follow up thought. But this subject just got overlooked in the everyday!Hope it is not too late for it to be still relevant.There is a skill more important than all of the skills that I talked about in my last post on this subject.http://inquiringeyes.blogspot.com/2009/01/

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-63779369432030276982009-06-10T11:49:00.003+08:002009-06-10T11:53:11.018+08:00

I usually avoid talking about advertisements here but I could not help putting this one up. I have not seen any television advertising for the Accord 2009, but what I saw in print really caught my attention.Imagine what perhaps would have been the brief for this piece of communication?Accord is a well-known brand from Honda and has a history of more than 15 years or so. Thus with a new 2009

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-52070101338126399992009-06-08T15:26:00.003+08:002009-06-08T15:37:20.174+08:00

These days you tell people something and they will urge you “Tell me fast!” When you have an interesting idea you are urged to “turn this concept into an elevator speech!” When you have a concept you are often asked “what is the key visual for this creative approach? When you have a theme with multiple facets, people say “can you show this as a visual board?” And one of my favourites, “Do not

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-80157251876615041142009-05-14T18:08:00.001+08:002009-05-14T18:11:27.409+08:00

The more people I meet from the urban workforce (the non-assembly line service sector), the stronger my belief gets that “in these modern times, the place of work is getting reduced to an execution zone”. Notice how many of us draw a “Jobs to do” list on the night before Monday morning or in the subway or bus on our way to work. Place of work no more seems to resemble a place for contemplation,

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-75109742740363839502009-05-08T18:17:00.001+08:002009-05-08T18:20:26.981+08:00

I have always believed that the iPhone is just another iPod that makes calls and can surf the web. This perhaps is one of the reasons why the iPod sales have been slowing down, ever since the iPhone was launched in 2007.In November of 2008, almost a year and a half after the iPhone came to the market came the latest version of Nintendo’s hugely successful handheld gaming device - Nintendo DSi.

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-51548010638785869412009-05-07T14:49:00.002+08:002009-05-07T14:56:15.829+08:00

I remember – it was a weekend in 2005 and I was in India – reading a news story about Videocon (a consumer durable major in India). It was about the company launching the first Internet TV in India. I also remember the media and expert noise around this launch. They were all talking about how innovations like Internet Television and (large screen) computers, with high-speed broadband access,

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-47713728777358536722009-05-04T11:24:00.003+08:002009-05-04T11:30:48.762+08:00

(What follows is not indented to glorify the GM & Chrysler management or position them as innocent scapegoats.)Pardon me if I sound like an extreme capitalist when I write this, but the recent developments in GM and Chrysler make me doubt the accuracy of judgment and opinions being raised in media, Government circles and by people in general. The question that vexes me is that while passing a

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-83445027095409822802009-04-29T11:39:00.002+08:002009-04-29T11:48:24.897+08:00

(Continued from last Post – Two World’s Collided) As we mingle in these two worlds parallely – it is interesting to note how protocols & conventions from the physical world are being selectively carried forward into the online world. Here is how:1. Space: In the physical world we prefer to keep our belongings with us – so either at home / office, or where we are. The only thing we do not mind

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-28884751575541291292009-04-28T12:02:00.004+08:002009-04-29T11:39:34.222+08:00

Today we do more and more things online & large part of us lives in the digital world. We, • Email, chat (to communicate)• Twitter update our thoughts/emotions (sharing/communicating)• Mining, Sharing, Uploading, Downloading Information (for work or leisure)• Blogging our hearts and minds (sharing/communicating)• Networking (to socialize)• Gaming (to entertain ourselves)• Online avatars (for a

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-47457791443123749702009-04-13T18:01:00.003+08:002009-04-13T18:09:46.483+08:00

Does it occur to us that every time we log on to the Internet – more often than not -we end up spending more time than we originally planned? More so at home, given that the proverbial ‘cyber café clock’ is not there to haunt us!Over-running our planned Internet time is linked with aimless clicking from one page to another. WILF or ‘What Was I Looking For’ is the expression used to describe this

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-75709548924183725502009-03-17T18:18:00.002+08:002009-03-17T18:23:26.131+08:00

Selina Wu is a good friend of Rakesh & Joan Fang. They have all chosen to be ‘traceable’ to each other. So every time they come in 5 sq km proximity of each other, they get a prompt on their phones (through a GPS based application that is downloadable for free). It is 7pm on Friday and Selina is driving home. She has only driven out couple of kilometers form office ad gets pinged that Rakesh and

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-40030516349018201082009-01-22T14:19:00.002+08:002009-01-22T14:29:46.480+08:00

I was motivated to write this after listening to some of my friends and colleagues say – analysis is the most important contribution that one can make at work! I also believe that analysis is important – however there are more things that are equally, if not more, important.In theory, analysis seems to be an important skill for any kind of work. However, from the applied skills perspective –

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-38621708200084793032009-01-07T15:13:00.002+08:002009-01-07T15:19:40.945+08:00

It’s the start of a New Year – many trend reports, many forecasts, many personal resolutions and horoscopes too!I have five questions that I am keen to find answers to and look I forward to watch these closely, in the New Year.Geopolitics1. Will China begin to engage in world affairs like the US (in some way)? For example sending her troops to play a role beyond protecting its geographic

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-26547500383396649782009-01-02T15:59:00.003+08:002009-01-02T17:23:00.731+08:00

I was recently sitting with some people as we were being told about a new methodology to research Shoppers in China. The premise that was driving this shopper research methodology was that shoppers in China are on auto pilot. What it meant was the most of the shoppers already have fixed preferences about brands and they are just ‘executing’ their preferences while they are inside the store. This

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-53050832833422861252008-12-18T13:04:00.005+08:002008-12-18T13:17:21.603+08:00

It is intriguing to observe how both Machine Intelligence and Human Intelligence are incomplete in their own unique ways.On one side there is the machine Intelligence (or Artificial Intelligence) that operates in a clearly defined fashion. This clearly defined fashion has been dreamed up by us. And perhaps this ‘clearly defined and predictable fashion’, in which the machine intelligence operates,

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-43337050160256361402008-12-15T13:21:00.003+08:002008-12-15T13:26:54.922+08:00

In this game or in that moment?This picture that I have chosen to share is perhaps extreme. People tend to be less ‘gadget oriented’ when they are in an intimate situation with their partner. This is especially true for girls. However by showing this extreme gadget fixation, I want to draw everyone’s attention to the fact that everyday – knowingly or unknowingly – all of us are trying to balance

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-18950341925643405452008-12-12T21:24:00.022+08:002008-12-12T23:12:23.338+08:00

While traveling through central China, I observed these two unexpected ways of ‘parking’ mobile phones on at work.Watch the waitress below as she has the phone sitting in the apronAnd look at this durable store sales girl – who has her phone in a wrist band on her left hand. Perhaps none of these two ‘mobile hangars’ are new. May be all of them have been around for a while. I am trying to draw a

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-21003829260092531402008-12-05T16:56:00.005+08:002008-12-07T13:02:23.487+08:00

This is going to be a very sharp post. And perhaps it is going to attract criticism too, I am prepared! I am curious to know the counter-thoughts - if there are any - to this line of thinking.Here it comes – I believe that really clever people – do not watch Television! (I can say this at least for markets where I have some experience).Clever people consume Television content fleetingly and if

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-53292744226804378102008-12-04T21:48:00.004+08:002008-12-05T13:15:35.395+08:00

With so much going right for Wii, it is hard to resist the temptation and to know the business implications of the product’s success. Since its launch, the monthly sales figures of the console have been higher than its competitors, across the globe. According to the NPD Group, in the first half of 2007 Wii sold more units in the United States than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 combined. This

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-54583098445253151622008-12-03T15:32:00.005+08:002008-12-03T22:18:38.921+08:00

When we look at Wii, the distinguishing feature of the console is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and can detect movement in three dimensions. In other words – while playing with Wii – one does not sit and press some buttons – instead one actually engages in mimicking the physical movement of various body parts, the way one would actually

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-88711158648104510732008-12-02T23:38:00.008+08:002008-12-03T19:14:33.232+08:00

Conventional wisdom suggests that we define our target consumers as clearly as possible and focus the marketing energies towards them.Conventional wisdom suggests we develop a product that addresses existing consumer needs. Conventional wisdom also suggests that we launch products that are better than the competition or give the same benefits at a better price! Now imagine going back in time to

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-70088256715248333982008-12-01T17:57:00.006+08:002008-12-01T18:17:10.122+08:00

Everyday Media and the Markets churn out reams of information about the fact that the future of mobile phones is mobile computing.Like many of us, I tend to believe that too.However what is worth pausing and pondering over is “what do we mean by mobile computing?” Does it mean computing in the palm of your hand raised to the power of computing in your present day desktops or laptops? That’s a lot

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-11840433798389865922008-11-21T11:38:00.001+08:002008-11-21T11:41:13.355+08:00

Last week I met this young man (26). As we started talking, he passionately described how he used his mobile phone and how many phones he had actually bought ever since he started using them about eight years back. As I discovered - even now he had at least three handsets and he used them interchangeably. This got me thinking as to what could be those occasions that he actually changed one of his

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-41042226909504422162008-11-10T18:42:00.002+08:002008-11-10T18:45:01.224+08:00

Google Android debuted on Oct 22nd, riding on the HTC G1 handset. However you might not have heard too many people raving about this new software for mobile devices.Most of the people have compared it to the iPhone interface and they have been left disappointed or at least not particularly elated.Although I have not tried the Android on G1 yet but from what I read in Stephen H Wildstrom’s review

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-1162422964522521672008-11-07T16:32:00.002+08:002008-11-07T16:39:03.240+08:00

Just to take forward the observations from the Hiding behind the Internet – it would like to illustrate, in greater detail, the “Something about Everything and Nothing in Particular” behaviour.One would expect that while searching for information, the user would actually make a folder on his computer where he would be saving all the information that is downloaded. Upon having downloaded all the

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-6166649365707099942008-11-07T11:10:00.003+08:002008-11-07T11:16:46.404+08:00

We used to have libraries. And whenever we had to do a project at school, in college or even at work, we used to go to the library and ‘refer’ to the books, journals, papers etc there. There was effort needed to access the knowledge in the library and perhaps a little more persistence to be able to find what was needed. Persistence is what signified a good search! And persistence was linked with

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-31000134078070844482008-11-06T12:46:00.002+08:002008-11-06T12:51:08.376+08:00

It is simply amazing observe how miniaturization of personal technologies is reshaping their application. A few days back I was talking to a young man – 25 (the one you see in picture here) and he had something amazing to say about how he uses his digital camera.For him the pictures from his digital camera are shorthand for words. At work or while traveling, he captures thoughts through images

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-64211689102559733472008-10-30T23:18:00.005+08:002008-10-31T00:06:03.055+08:00

While in upcountry two-wheeler showroom in central China, I was amazed that the average number of headlamps for every bike was more than three! Just have a look at the electric bikes in the pictures here. To me they are almost like light houses on two wheels!I wondered for a while before I realized that as one would go further up the country side, these head lamps would not make one feel the

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-87346694250734421102008-10-30T22:48:00.005+08:002008-10-30T23:04:12.330+08:00

I never really believed that interactions with computing devices could actually dumb us down. In fact even now, I am quite surprised by what I have realized recently and I am still trying to some to terms with it. I am surprised because I always looked at computers and computing devices as great assets for example: * Computers as a gateway to potential new vistas through the Internet * As

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-42223570495870894062008-10-29T11:47:00.002+08:002008-10-29T11:51:16.164+08:00

We started as hunters who hunted when they were hungry. Then we started gathering the stuff, farming, rearing animals. And then we discovered this whole magical possibility of making stuff beyond fire – so, in came pots and baskets and so many other things. Most of these things that we made were for ourselves. Then started barter and then finally we started exchanging goods for currency. All this

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-1337842574651588832008-10-21T16:47:00.002+08:002008-10-21T16:50:54.196+08:00

We talk more over phones because we have mobile phones, we send more and more text messages because it is the supreme unobtrusive way to communicate, the moment we are in a unfamiliar place we pull out our mobile phones and try to look busy, if we reach the cinema hall before our friends, we try to keep our eyes anchored to luminescence from the mobile phone screen, for we do not want to ‘feel’

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-6217610015837745472008-10-12T08:45:00.002+08:002008-10-15T08:41:29.831+08:00

Since the dawn of micro computing era, we have always prefixed ‘personal’ to the name computer and the common assumption is that one computer is for one person. Yes, most of the leading operating systems ‘Do’ offer multiple user login option, but if I were to go with my observation in developed countries and even among the urban users in a developing country, one computer is still mainly used by

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-40110902083618028552008-09-11T19:20:00.013+08:002008-09-26T08:38:44.519+08:00

Recently I asked Allen about what he saw as the future of branding in a society where almost all the information would be easily findable and the concept of “myth” fades away?His response is focused, here is what he believes -Every smart organization knows that the “myth” of a brand fades as soon as a consumer realizes that the promise of the brand is not being delivered as expected. Easily

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-45244873259917243322008-09-04T10:26:00.016+08:002008-09-06T16:27:11.475+08:00

I was amazed to read what Damien brought to my notice through his post “Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen at your fingertips” on Crave - The Technology Blog from CNET Asia. As you'd read in what Damien has written in his post “a passerby at the Hugo Boss store in Singapore, can interact with Lewis and Heikki, access an array of information about Team Vodafone McLaren, F1-related movies,

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-69460639047589270652008-08-31T08:02:00.011+08:002008-08-31T08:18:55.544+08:00

Look at these two pictures. I captured these two moments at Luoyang (a place of great historic significance in China). The girl is sitting atop a lotus and trying to mimic the Buddha pose, just for fun. Her friends, who are not in the frame, were clicking and cheering her. The man is looking at a very old rock carving of Lord Buddha as he takes a drag and reflects (perhaps). This shook me, more

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-86310800804779552452008-08-30T14:53:00.003+08:002008-08-30T15:05:55.886+08:00

Watch these young men and women in red. They are at the Hangzhou railway station on a hot summer morning – when the sun can almost burn you. These people are selling Hangzhou-Shanghai bus tickets.(Hangzhou is a popular travel destination in China, it is also the birth place of the famous Chinese silk among many other specialties that it has to its credit).There is a train between Hangzhou and

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-23806154551909531642008-08-22T07:27:00.013+08:002008-08-22T07:52:14.264+08:00

Only after the dust settles, and the euphoria of holding a very beautiful looking mobile phone is replaced with the realism about “what am I getting for what I am paying”, will the real winner emerge. Today, as I sit writing this, many would be queuing up outside the Sahara Mall. Today is the iPhone day! Now Indians will get a phone on which they can pinch pictures with two fingers and make them

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-77299592868756526542008-08-19T14:20:00.004+08:002008-08-19T14:29:17.077+08:00

Spot the driver in the picture that you see here, can you? Unlike India where it is much easier to tell the server from the one who is being served, in China it is very difficult. Usually you cannot tell who is who, at least in big cities. Because if the driver is wearing very clean, contemporary clothes and shoes, if he is busy keying in stuff into his PDA with the stylus and then we all sit

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-7402917478512597052008-08-16T22:29:00.008+08:002008-08-17T12:57:17.776+08:00

I have always been a believer in this and I always will be. Best interface is the one that can read minds rather than wait for my hands to do something or my vocal cords to make some noise!I wrote about this a few months back when I was passionately attacking ‘classical languages’ like English and others that we have grown up speaking and writing. I as I said then and continue to say now, these

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-63371019705609800732008-08-14T22:11:00.004+08:002008-08-16T00:05:34.214+08:00

I am sure we all have seen Pedestal fans, and in different sizes. I am sure we have seen pedestal fans that rotate for a wider wind sweep to serve more people. Ever wondered why nobody ever found a way to rid us from the hassle that every time the fan speed had to be adjusted, we had to walk up to it and do it?Well, as I discovered a few weeks back, somebody actually did. How many of us would

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-62829774692331793402008-08-12T12:53:00.004+08:002008-08-12T12:59:43.652+08:00

I spotted this ‘magnetic lock’ mosquito curtain, at a Bottom of Pyramid (BOP) home in a tier 4 town in China. It is simple, ingenuous and cheap (approx RMB 35 /USD 5).The vertical magnetic strips woven into the nylon fabric at the center, keeps the thing closed & mosquitoes out!What can we learn from this about cost effective design for everyday things that deliver maximum functionality? Could we

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-45264908001168074792008-08-10T16:04:00.002+08:002008-08-10T16:08:29.074+08:00

This is how one can avoid asking for a plate. Watch how a water melon morphs into a water melon bowl that you eat and eat from. And finally it turns into organic trash – totally biodegradable. Effortless green, smart eating! While we try and find out how we can get rid of the spoon as well, can someone please dream up ways of making dishes that do not need cleaning, are bio degradable & yet are

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-22082731785257617772008-08-09T15:17:00.010+08:002008-08-10T16:03:18.666+08:00

As China made a breathtaking entry into the world stage, with a zillion flash lights working overtime and hundreds of TV stations across the globe busy reporting the ceremony live, I enjoyed watching every bit of it from the comfort of my Sofa. Fireworks, Music, Confucius, Glowing men, cute kids and so much more, all came together. It sure was a great moment! Audience cheered all the way, they

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-35466500224424641952008-08-07T13:44:00.000+08:002008-08-07T13:59:53.652+08:00

Last month I was in Luoyang (a place of great historic significance about Buddhism in China. See more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longmen_Grottoes . As I was walking by the rock cut caves, these two pieces of design captured my attention. Look at the lamp post. At the face of it – we see a perfectly old design. It has been carefully chosen to blend with the context – the historical site.

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-35845025816800226112008-08-04T19:23:00.009+08:002008-08-06T16:12:55.620+08:00

Stop looking at the device for sometime and just watch what Apple is doing around the iPhone. Go to iTunes App Store and you’ll know why I am saying what I am saying. The new App Store has unveiled over 500 third party applications for the iPhone. Add to it, almost 25% of these 500 new applications are free. A lot of the remaining cost less than USD 10! I am not going to talk about all the new

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-1345493150601282002008-08-04T19:22:00.001+08:002008-08-04T19:23:35.393+08:00

It has been a long break. Some of you who visit this space might be wondering what happened. Well, a lot. Traveling across big cities in China and getting a glimpse of tier 4 and 5 towns, frustrations of not being able to go into the depth of things mainly due to the language handicap, struggle and subsequent failure in trying to ‘crash learn’ the language, meeting many new people, discovering

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-70249998211349786582008-06-15T13:58:00.002+08:002008-06-15T14:04:50.156+08:00

(Note: These thoughts are not aimed at propagating the ‘concept of religion’ or propagating any religion in particular)Religion and Community (family or friends) usually play a key role at two stages in everyday life or in two phases of a lifetime. Both of them assuage us as we face the day-to-day troughs. I am not talking about the crests because more often than not, as humans, we tend to

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-17983821052104992662008-04-07T16:00:00.003+08:002008-04-07T17:10:48.066+08:00

This is probably my first consumer/society related writing on China. It has taken me long to start writing about this new place that I am in, may be I am growing old and I want to think a lot before writing anything or may be it is just more correct not to pass sweeping statements about a society and culture that is so old (as old as Indian or may be even older) and a society that I know so

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-51514767698997823412008-03-14T13:25:00.002+08:002008-03-14T13:31:50.601+08:00

I was sitting at the Changchun airport (North East China) a few weeks back when one of our colleagues from another office opened his notebook and started asking our other colleagues about what we all thought were the key developments in Asia Pacific that could influence the fate of consumer markets in the next few years. He started slow but at the end of it he had more than 25 points to save

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-27544149680422952552008-03-12T20:20:00.002+08:002008-03-12T20:30:19.125+08:00

Why do businesses exist? The usual answer is ‘profit’. But more recently there have been a lot of instances where companies of different sizes have gone ahead and talked about how profits are a byproduct of their business practices. Many of them profess that they exist for a larger cause preferably (& usually) in the territory ofImproving the quality of life for humanity orProsperity for all or

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-12816037106799068622008-03-11T22:33:00.002+08:002008-03-11T22:43:42.537+08:00

I always wonder, “is proliferation of technology going to make us, as humans, more practical and more pragmatic –the way technology is or would increased incidence of technology in everyday life have a opposite impact, making people want to ‘feel more’ and thus trigger a reverse trend of taking us back to what makes us human – feelings and emotions.”To scale this question into a more selfish

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-39417191900123834852008-03-04T03:08:00.000+08:002008-03-04T03:10:42.232+08:00

And now to some even more fundamental things. We believe that there is no substitute to hard work. Especially in a new market, when we need to run many-many laps before even being close to the talented people who have grown in this market. We would like to quote the then founder chairman, of the now disintegrated, Daewoo group - Kim Woo – Choong, from his hugely under rated and unacknowledged

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-82410964778636503132008-03-03T15:42:00.001+08:002008-03-03T15:44:41.390+08:00

Here we must quote Madhukar Sabnavis, our last boss, for we can never ever forget what he told us in one of our discussions about role of emotions and feelings vs. hard logical evidence, as two approaches to sell ideas. Our discussion was in connection with the constant ranting that we as advertising agencies engage in, about most of the advertisers being very logical and linear in their thinking

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-33892993612283446092008-03-03T00:14:00.000+08:002008-03-03T00:16:08.574+08:00

Mails make us efficient we are told. But do mails make us better colleagues? Do mails make us better friends? Do mails make us more effective? We do not know. What we do know is that people like people more than their mails. So whenever possible, we have always tried to know a person before dashing off a mail to him or her. We believe it is our responsibility to know the person we are working

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-15197957974229786772008-03-01T16:51:00.002+08:002008-03-01T17:02:12.425+08:00

And now on to our favourite point and most vital learning in the last six months - “be a good listener.” Well, we had heard this from many people even before we came to China. We even used to think that we were good listeners, however only after coming here and working here for some time, have we realized what perhaps, is the real meaning of ‘listening’. Listening is not about not talking, it is

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-71468318278956291632008-02-29T11:35:00.002+08:002008-03-03T00:17:13.604+08:00

We are reminded of what John Shaw (ex Regional Planning Director, Ogilvy & Mather, Asia Pacific) once said about the impregnable reason that creatives sometimes site for not being able to work on a brief. It is something as simple as “I don’t like it!” It sounds simple but actually it is critical and complex. There is no way to counter this. Same is true for clients and even colleagues. No matter

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-65087843167634997772008-02-28T11:51:00.000+08:002008-02-28T11:52:55.718+08:00

All of us are not good at this. Actually everyone does not even need to be like this. Some of us need to be restless (and perhaps even reckless), while others need to be more settled and matured. Almost like the balance of personalities, which we talked about under the ‘Remix’ subhead. The danger in having a passionate and committed team is that they are an emotional bunch or people. Just the way

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-54084196062672990082008-02-27T13:35:00.004+08:002008-03-03T00:18:00.577+08:00

Before stating this we must say that there is no artificial or crafty way of doing this. We really need to feel before we can pull this off. It has to be real. If as a person we do not like people – this is virtually impossible to accomplish. There are enough and more smart people around. Quickly (very quickly) we need to understand who is good at what and then just deploy their skills where they

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-15880286314549506982008-02-27T13:32:00.001+08:002008-02-27T13:34:20.902+08:00

This perhaps sounds blasphemous. Why would we want to fight among ourselves? After all we just said that we are a team of friends. Well, yes we are a team of friends, but we still got to fight. Fight not without reason but to drive our individual opinions home. Nobody loses in an argument on the brand. But the brand does lose everything if there is no argument. Perennial consensus is perfect

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-60798318460269370102008-02-22T15:38:00.000+08:002008-02-22T15:39:24.886+08:00

Team compositions work best this way. Frankly we did not build any kind of teams consciously because we joined existing teams. However in hindsight, the team was just the right composition. We had almost everything in the right proportion Aggression Contemplation Restlessness ComposureWithout pointing at individuals, we must state that because of these diverse character traits in our group, we

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-55412793652893288242008-02-21T13:43:00.002+08:002008-02-21T13:47:56.053+08:00

Well, we are nowhere even close to being an authority on doing what we do for a living – advertising. Add to it we are now in a new market, new people, new culture, and most critically we need to adapt to a new language and there is a long-long way to go. But we can’t help but give in to the temptation of sharing experiences that have gotten us excited. Like children learning to talk (our baby

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-6164091320299015382008-01-03T17:57:00.001+08:002008-01-03T18:19:54.097+08:00

(This is not intended to be a product review)In November last, Amazon launched Kindle - the mobile reading device. So what is the big deal? Yet another gadget in town, right? Well, though I have not had a chance to lay my hands on one yet, but I suppose it is much more than that. Kindle is almost like carrying a one page book that has many pages (and is many books!). By the time you are done with

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-11675251523666446882007-12-25T14:12:00.012+08:002008-08-17T12:43:24.721+08:00

Imagine – “Would we still be ‘writing’, had we invented a sound recording device before we developed the alphabet?”Think.I suppose the primary objective of the written word was, and still is, ‘to Record’. But then, isn’t it surprising that we still learn to read and write, when we can ‘record’ in many other, and much more efficient, ways?We invented the written alphabet before the audio (and then

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-63322883902679411662007-12-04T20:52:00.000+08:002007-12-04T21:01:06.117+08:00

Future of all HiFi is Wire Free Connectivity (high speed and low - bloody low - cost).Why?1. As people move around geographies, and leave behind their emotional anchorage, they would want to reconnect, recreate, share the times gone by, with people who are closest2. This is also linked to another universal truth – as people grow older they tend to have fewer and fewer friends. As a result, the

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-33992252163537389372007-11-14T12:46:00.000+08:002007-11-14T13:24:31.205+08:00

For the past 2-3 years, and perhaps even today we have been hearing that convergence is going to land in a gadget, when everything ends up in the palm of your hand. So you will have a device that is - a Radioa TVa Music Playera Computera Telephonea Plannera Clocka Still Cameraa Voice Recordera Video Recordera Gaming ConsolePerhaps even an Insulin Tracker And a lot more..(I am not even talking

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-8114703362253059152007-11-13T18:19:00.000+08:002007-11-13T18:24:05.935+08:00

1. The Laptop maker makes laptops2. The projector maker makes projection equipment3. The mouse makers make mouse4. The Speaker maker makes speakers5. The power extension cord maker makes extension cords 6. And the ‘end-user’ makes the presentation..But the presentation needs the laptop, it can’t do without a projector, some of the end users even need a mouse to manage their cursor better and

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-32619962218580400432007-11-09T10:44:00.000+08:002007-11-09T10:45:36.668+08:00

Chips are becoming smaller and fasterMemory is becoming lighter & mightierScreens are becoming photo frames and interactive surfacesKeyboards and other ‘peripherals’ are disappearingProjectors are shrinking in size and improving in resolutionSpeakers are becoming smaller and sexierMusic players are becoming portable and yet Hi FiContent connectivity is going wire free – at least over short

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-3827355447405857662007-11-02T17:52:00.001+08:002007-11-02T17:53:28.532+08:00

The kid in question is AI (Artificial Intelligence) - pet peeve of the ‘technology will surpass human thinking　school. I must confess that AI has taken long to evolve and no-believers still say that look at that clumsy Robot ‘it’ still cannot tell a Cat from a Dog but I would tend to agree with what Ray Kurzweil has to say about the evolution of AI. It is learning the bigger things first –

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-6369109910091772132007-11-02T14:06:00.000+08:002007-11-02T14:13:35.735+08:00

Well, I do not know who thought of it first but recently I heard one of our senior colleagues say this. Come to think of it – it is a bloody good question; One of those that we seldom ask ourselves. The question is a great way of checking if we ‘think’ what we want to do is right or is it our ‘gut’ (‘or past experiences’) that is driving us to do it. In fact when you try and answer this question

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-46092611723452397912007-11-02T14:05:00.002+08:002007-11-02T14:06:33.025+08:00

Sample this:“This Polo by Ralph Lauren sweater is an expression of quality craftsmanship and integrity of design, from the selection of fabric to the execution of every detail. It has been crafted of pure cashmere interlock for lightweight comfort and breathability. This sweater has a generous fit to accommodate the natural shrinkage that will happen after the first few launderings allowing it to

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-39256955634195611662007-11-02T14:05:00.001+08:002007-11-02T14:05:51.865+08:00

I owe this and the last post to thoughts triggered by what Kees Van Der Heijden has written. Amazingly simple yet not practiced enough! Almost every organization (and I will include families and societies in this) has three kinds of people at work – those who can perceive, those with the ability to think and finally those who can do it! If we can close the loop between these three and their

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-28113653786530387372007-11-02T14:03:00.000+08:002007-11-02T14:05:19.786+08:00

Good and Bad.Good because rationality brings longevity to the setup. We all want to live long (if not forever!) It is not very surprising that celebrity fades faster than the brands they endorse (well, most of the time). Bad because when it comes to understanding and interfacing with consumers (especially in consumer products/services business) organizations are unable to shed their rational

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-17594037248556145192007-10-06T18:29:00.000+08:002007-10-06T18:32:18.063+08:00

What was I Looking For -WILF; What was I Thinking - WITIt is called..God! Its right there on my tongue but can't seem to recall it..!A common everyday challenge with so much happening around and inside our minds. Volatile short term memory is a new social reality and thence a need in making. There just might be a huge market opening up for new capture & reminder devices..small portable gadgets (

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-66519440783371740022007-10-06T10:47:00.000+08:002007-10-06T10:54:19.162+08:00

Well, if you have not yet seen this please do have a look http://www.microsoft.com/surface/. Microsoft surface is a promising new interface. No mouse, no keyboard, no desktop no laptop – it is a table top and all it needs is fingers as stimulus. Promising, not because it is touch sensitive (which a whole of things are today) but because it is multi-application. From sharing photos, to planning an

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-45110712108127739502007-10-01T19:08:00.000+08:002007-10-01T19:13:32.102+08:00

For anyone who likes gaming and has spent some time on Google Earth or NASA’s World Wind, it would not take very long to see the connection.WoW (World of Warcraft) is the most popular in online multiplayer games (MMORPG). Google Earth is the most popular way of exploring the world ‘virtually’. If game developers start collaborating with Google Earth (i.e. if they are not on to it already) they

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-34524224263469216002007-10-01T19:05:00.000+08:002007-10-01T19:08:01.686+08:00

Should we interrogate or think about our products or services more than what the end user thinks about them? I know - it might be a rather strange question to ask (or is it?) because as marketing and advertising professionals a sizable part of our expertise is embedded in our ability to develop, manage and grow products and services that we market.But the downside to analyzing the product, or the

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-53319002299068991682007-10-01T00:15:00.000+08:002007-10-01T00:22:28.875+08:00

I (unlike most of the Media) hate to critique. And especially, critique rising stars or stars that have already made it big like Google. And in fact what I am writing here is a reaction to a news report that was bordering criticism and apprehension about, who else but Google again!It is not just media – looks like the whole world is worried because of Google even UGC is not particularly kind.

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-21984781981265096672007-09-29T21:34:00.000+08:002007-09-29T21:49:28.473+08:00

How are you doing?Too much work man..!How are you?Surviving..How is life?Do not ask..How does the day look? Just too busy..How was the day..?Mad-hectic!Where are you going?Just running to wind something upHave you seen this film?Who has the time..!Almost everybody is busy; everybody at any given point in time seems to be the most important person in his work area. The whole world (at least India

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-32603062559589279412007-09-25T13:43:00.000+08:002007-09-26T11:28:26.443+08:00

Rocket Race and the future of Spectator SportsRRL or Rocket Racing League is the brainchild of Peter H Diamandis -the man who spent USD 10 million to a team financed by Paul Allen. (BusinessWeek Sept 24, 2007). Rocket Race takes high speed rocket planes into space as they race. Each plane might make about 5 short pit stops in the course of the 90 minute race. As Diamandis puts it “While NASA

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-76110826541115729112007-09-25T13:40:00.000+08:002007-09-26T11:26:04.316+08:00

RapLeaf, Spock and Wink.com are thee examples of how online content is close to near complete democratization. Profile that you create here, pictures you put here can all be modified/ ‘corrected’ by visitors. Anyone can add photos or a short description to any profile. Then Spock members vote on what remains there and what goes away.Basically people who know you or ‘think’ they know you can say

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-50430174659239312132007-09-16T23:40:00.000+08:002007-09-16T23:50:44.631+08:00

Long-term or short term, radical or conventional, leadership stance or guerrilla stance, new business or existing plan, price or distribution the alternatives are limitless.The strategy could be any or many but what is critical is deciding to walk that line and walking it bloody good.Believe me, with enough logic you can challenge any idea or any approach (I do not know Physics and Mathematics

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-22419865769023623792007-09-16T23:19:00.000+08:002007-09-16T23:22:51.933+08:00

This thought is as direct as the title. We all know that as we rise in an organization or our career in general we are all inevitably heading towards the narrowing of the funnel. This is the funnel that defines who goes ahead and who stays. Who becomes number one (read CEO or the Chairman) and who becomes the second in command.If one does not want to be the CEO/Chairman of the organization

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-68582133461845191252007-09-02T23:06:00.000+08:002007-09-02T23:08:55.359+08:00

This works like gang busters! Just look at most of the successful fiction that has ever sold or is still in the market. It is a combination of personal experiences or solid research spiced up with a good deal of imagination. What you get at the end of it is fiction that everyone likes to read. It is not too boring for it is not just life reported as it. It is a combination of life lived and

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-87985738414283579712007-09-01T16:33:00.000+08:002007-09-01T16:49:30.837+08:00

Focus groups, colleague rants, song lyrics on my mp3 player, workshops, meetings, empty can of diet coke in the trash, all doors opening outside, or the pack of tissues in your top drawer – no matter what you are doing, where you are, who is staring at you and no matter what you are feeling - just be inspired, always. It is this spark that keeps the creator inside all of us fired up!Sometimes I

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-29863042121620174772007-08-25T23:00:00.000+08:002007-08-25T23:41:08.246+08:00

Meeting, workshops, research..lot of thinking and no writing makes me a restless man..Here\'s something I\'ve been thinking about for past few days. Looking at planners and planning. Following are some observations and opinions on the way planners/planning work(s)..Most of the planners that I have seen so far broadly fall in one of the following two categories:1.The Structure Group: The first

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33943223.post-85986291253644126212007-08-04T10:07:00.000+08:002007-08-04T10:27:25.894+08:00

Have you ever asked Lay’s that? Do other leading food brands want to be that? Food and tastes are local, regional or culture specific. But look at it - most of the food businesses are global. We have learnt how cereals, grains, spices and condiments are adopted first by communities residing in areas where these are grown. It is true that some of the foods have traveled far and wide riding on

Saurabh Sharmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06446197017508889948noreply@blogger.com0