Matchstick making

Most of my travel by road throughout my life has mainly been for work. I know many in Indian Roadie and associated forums whose purpose of travel matches mine. 

Spotting road/ vehicle signages, billboards screaming something that's unusual, people engaged in 'out of the box' businesses/ professions, out of the box happenings on every kilometre of road, etc, etc, etc possibly gives me a far bigger kick than getting a glimpse of a snow capped mountain peak or the ocean or the jungles or deserts. 

More than three decades ago while I was with Castrol India, I used to visit the sprawling highly mechanized manufacturing unit of matchstick manufacturer WIMCO near Dakhineswar in North Kolkata. It used to be a thoroughbred blue chip MNC those days. 

The drive on a dug up CR Avenue followed by the indefinite wait at Shyambazar and then a seemingly never ending narrow B.T.Road upto Dunlop Bridge and PWD Road upto Alambazar used to be a whole day's assignment. 

The officials used to serve me wonderful food and beverages. They were so friendly. In one of my official trips to the factory, I happened to meet the head of HR who was there on a factory visit. Some chit-chat followed over coffee and he straight away offered me a lucrative job offer. However, I declined the offer after almost 2 months of negotiations because I wanted to be posted in Mumbai while the offer was for Kolkata. 

The ugly head of communism had already crept in with inciting posters and banners screaming at everyone from every corners of the factory. Within the next few years the heavily overstaffed company closed down thanks to Jyoti Basu's militancy policies and Indira Gandhi's policies of reservation of matchstick manufacturing for the SME sector. 

Those tiring drives in mid/ late 1980s made me an even more confident roadie on the bumpy roads of Kolkata in yesteryears. 

The attached video of matchstick manufacturing in some small unit somewhere in India is far more relevant for me than any photos, reels and videos depicting a setting sun along a riverfront. 

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* Indian Roadie Is Travel Plus Plus 

* Indian Roadie Is Automobiles Plus Plus 

* Indian Roadie Travel For Work 

* Indian Roadie Drive For Work 

* Indian Roadie Recollections

No Bindi No Business - Shefali Vaidya the anti Hindu fake activists

* No Bindi No Business 

I am with Shefali Vaidya. 

Fake activists and third graded advertising professionals who wake up during Hindu festivals only. 

They should be named and shamed. 

I am dying to name atleast one such rascal! He should not live in peace. 

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* Good Ad Bad Ad

Air India unveiled a new brand logo and aircraft livery on 2023-08-10

Air India revealed a new brand logo and aircraft livery on 2023-08-10, marking the dawn of the makeover. The unveiling comes as the airline embarks on a journey to upgrade its fleet with the historic acquisition of 470 new aircraft in a multi-billion-dollar deal at the Paris Air Show 2023. 

There’s a new window of possibilities rising in the sky.

The new look reimagines the iconic Indian window, also part of our history, into a gold window frame, symbolising a “Window of Possibilities”. 

The new livery and design features a palette of deep red, aubergine, gold highlights and a chakra-inspired pattern. 

Travellers will begin to see the new logo and design starting December 2023. 

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* Marketingpundit 

* MarketingGyanology 

* Good Ad Bad Ad 

* Branding

There's no brand loyalty for D2C brands in 2023

There's hardly any brand loyalty in D2C brands in India as in 2023. 

Content courtesy: Instagram @ casarthakahuja

Narendra Modi's style of personal branding and reputation management

My country's CMO Narendra Modiji's style of personal branding and reputation management (upto July 2023) perfectly described by Palki Sharma. 

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* What Has Modi Done

What made Sugar Cosmetics successful

What made Sugar Cosmetics founded by IIM-A alumni couple Vineeta Singh and Kaushik Mukherjee click. 

Offbeat CCU - Sounds of Kolkata

A journey through Kolkata, using only sounds of the city.

Every sound is guaranteed to flash a memory in front of your eyes if you know the city well .... very creative, excellent production for OFFBEAT CCU. 

Tribute to filmmaker Mrinal Sen on his birth centenary by Amul

Tribute to filmmaker Mrinal Sen on his birth centenary by Amul in May 2023.

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GoodAdBadAd, Marketingpundit, MarketingGyanology are initiatives by Marketingpundit.com, the virtual space identity of Deep Banerjee. 

Unorganized vis-a-vis Organized sector

 

Nostalgia in ads can evoke fuzzy feelings in consumers

Nostalgia in ads can evoke fuzzy feelings in consumers. But what if the customers are younger millennials and Gen Z with no idea of the original ad creative or jingle? Then does drawing from the past really work?

Took a closer look at nostalgia in marketing for @ETBrandEquity. 

Courtesy: Mukta Lad 

https://t.co/qfEp8ZV3hR

Satbir Singh on govt decision to ban surrogate advertisements

Satbir Singh's article in The Brand Equity dated 2022-07-13 on government's decision to ban surrogate advertisements. 

Subho Nobo Borsho 2022 and unveiling of Indian Roadie eGranth

Subho Nobo Borsho 2022/ Happy Baisakhi/ Happy Bihu/ Happy Puthandu/ Happy Vishu/ Happy Pana Sankranti to everyone. 

Also announcing the unveiling of monthly eBooks, viz. Indian Roadie eGranth. 

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* LiveToHelp_HappyToDrive 

P.S: If you are keen to receive the treasure trove of information every month, please comment with your WhatsApp number,  E-mail ID, location in the comments section or message me (Deep Banerjee) the basic details asked for so that I can despatch the same to you, absolutely free.

Prega News topical advt - Women's Day 2022

Women's Day campaign 2022 for Prega News (a brand of Mankind Pharma Ltd) featuring Sayantani Ghosh. 

Being a mom is extremely rewarding, but does that ever take a toll on your ambitions and dreams? This Women's Day 2022 with Prega News, it's time to break free from the nay-sayers of society and bring in confidence to women that #SheCanCarryBoth! 

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* Womens Day 2022

* Prega News 

* Mankind Pharma

* Mankind Pharma Topical 

* Topical Advertisement  

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* GoodAdBadAd, Marketingpundit, MarketingGyanology are initiatives by Marketingpundit.com, the virtual space identity of Deep Banerjee.

Mercedes Benz EQC - extremely fast

All new electric Mercedes Benz EQC, extremely fast. 

(November 2021) 

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* Indian Roadie Automotive Advertisements 

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Good Ad Bad Ad, Marketingpundit, Marketing Gyanology,  Indian Roadie (and associated forums) are initiatives by Marketingpundit.com, the virtual space identity of Deep Banerjee.

Facebook's policy of allowing memberd to join groups automatically is not acceptable

Facebook wants people to join 'public groups' automatically without approval by admins/ moderators. There's nothing that admins/ moderators can do to stop that. If the group setting is changed to 'private',  the same can't be changed to public ever again. 

And why so? Ostensibly it's to ease the work pressure of admins/ moderators of having to approve any new joinee individually. By allowing people to join public groups automatically, Facebook supposedly is facilitating increase of engagement in public groups. 
It's an utterly fake narrative by Facebook app, Facebook Community, Facebook Security. 

It's evident that Facebook in India (I am not interested in what it does overseas) supports and encourages spammers, wrongdoers and disruptors on its social media platform. I strongly detest and oppose such one sided decisions by Facebook. 

If we admins/ moderators are not vigilant enough by choosing the right Facebook settings, anyone can also post/ comment/reply automatically without even joining any public groups.  

Cyberlaws in India rightfully hold admins/ moderators of groups/ forums responsible for any mischievous activity or wrongdoings in the group. 
Admins/ moderators will now have to be on tenterhooks to continuously weed out unwanted disruptors and people with heinous intentions out of the groups they are responsible for. 

I am publicly announcing my extreme displeasure on Facebook unanimously implementing these dangerous changes. 
I as the admin/ moderator of quite a few groups/ forums should not be held responsible for any potentially harmful/ anti national activities happening in my groups/ forums because of such changes being introduced by Facebook. 

Requesting Narendra Modi ji, PMO India, Amit Shah, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India to immediately intervene. 

Requesting every Facebook user and Facebook group admin/ moderator who feels threatened by the unilateral moves by Facebook as a corporate entity to share my concern and tag all relevant law enforcing authorities across India. 

Get married paying EMI

The Out Of Home (OOH) billboard in Kolkata is inviting people to get married by paying EMIs. 

I am extremely inquisitive to know what the NBFC lender will do if the borrower fails to pay the EMIs. 

Will the company 'seize' the wife or the husband, the way they do for cars and bikes? 

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* Marketingpundit 

* Good Ad Bad Ad 

* Laugh Aloud 

Citroen and Mitsubishi opened a mnfg plant jointly in Russia

Citroen and Mitsubishi opened a manufacturing plant in Russia together. Do not know, whether to aplaud the drivers or the dancers.  This advertisement is a work of art in itself. 

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* Good Ad Bad Ad 

* Marketingpundit 

Tata Safari Dicor - I always wanted to

Tata Safari Dicor - I always wanted to. 

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* Good Ad Bad Ad

Red Bull thinks about making advt content that its audience wants to see. It removes as much branding as possible

When it comes to producing video, most people think about what they want to see themselves and how to get their company message across at all costs. 

Red Bull does the opposite. It thinks about making content that its audience will want to see and figures out how to remove as much branding as possible. 
Rather than heavy-handed product placement, Red Bull continues to go for high-end content, richly filmed and exciting to watch, with an aesthetics that fits the brand attributes. 
Red Bull invented the category and is rewriting the playbook on extreme, branded content. Cheers!! 

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* Good Ad Bad Ad 

* Marketing Gyanology 

* Marketingpundit 

If you want loyal customers [via social], you have to be proactive

One of the most important elements of building customer loyalty via social channels is to provide prompt responses to customer service inquiries, along with content and promotions. If you want loyal customers [via social], you have to be proactive. 

Incompetent presence on social networks is a no-no. 

Organisations must involve marketing and service if they want to leverage social to build loyalty. 

It's important that answers are provided by an actual human being. If a consumer detects that its' an automated response, it could make the situation far worse.