Back from Europe

Just came back from Europe - Paris, Switzerland and Germany. Paris was Paris - wine, women et al. Switzerland was breathtaking - every time I opened my eyes, it was a postcard shot. Germany was relaxing - a good way to end the trip.

10 days, 3 countries, whirlwind trip - trip of a lifetime.

Here are some peeves, though:

1. While Switzerland has some of the most beautiful lakes in the world - Lake Zurich, Lake Luzern etc. why do Swiss drink bottled water for 5 EUR. BTW beer costs 3 EUR and wine costs 4 EUR. highly recommend either to water.

2. Are the Swiss hell bent on destroying what nature has given them by 1. smoking incessantly 2. smoking in all public places 3. making smoking a national pastime - 9 out of 10 people I saw had a light between their fingers!

3. Mona Lisa is overrated! Seriously!

Microsoft Zing - Is it the next big thing?

Microsoft, home of the Windows and the Zune, has just announced that they're going to launch Bing, a rebranding and reformatting of their search engine. So far, they've earmarked $100 million just for the marketing.

Bing, of course, stands for Something to challenge Google. The problem, as far as I can tell, is that it is trying to be the next Google. And the challenge for Microsoft is that there already is a next Google. It's called Google.

Google is not seen as broken by many people, and a hundred million dollars trying to persuade us that it is, is money poorly spent. In times of change, the rule is this:

Don't try to be the 'next'. Instead, try to be the other, the changer, the new.

If Microsoft adds a few features and they prove popular, how long precisely will it take Google to mirror or even leapfrog those features?

With $100 million, you could build (or even buy) something remarkable. Something that spread online without benefit of a lot of yelling and shouting. Something that changes the game in a fundamental way. The internet works best when you build a network, not when you buy a brand. In fact, I can't think of one successful online brand that was built with cash.

PSBBians - Omnipresent

Not the Malayalees, as popular jokes might say. Not the Chinese, as immigration stats might indicate. Not god, as theists might advocate. And definitely not peace as we all would like. But there is one species that inhabits every corner of the world: The PSBBian - yeah I wanted that to rhyme with the amphibian. Obviously Chicago is no exception.

I walk into an office party, expecting no surprises from the guest list; no Indians for sure I thought. Lo and behold! I come across this Indian guy who was drinking beer and talking to my friend. As the party progressed, I got a chance to catch up with him. As we discuss the weather, a nice opening with any stranger, and Cricket, never fails with an Indian, I found out that we was from my high school, PSBB, too, 2 years my senior. So we spent the rest of the party chatting in Tamil, discussing IPL, Vaaranam Aayiram and Sameera Reddy.

Always good to catch up with a PSBBian!

Meatball Sundae - Seth Godin

As someone who has been in Marketing for the last four years, two of them in Internet Marketing, I often wonder how to convince my bosses that internet marketing really works. Our bosses often make me prove ROI before test a new marketing concept.

But, "What's the ROI of putting on your pants in the morning?"

I often feel like asking my bosses if in the past few months, they've made a product or service decision based on a direct mail piece they received or based on a TV advertisement. (Almost no bosses have). Then I feel like asking if in the past few months they've used Google or another search engine to make a product or service decision. (Virtually all bosses have).

Well now I have something else to ask. Is Your Marketing out of Sync? Buy a copy of Seth Godin's Meatball Sundae. It is an important book. Meatball Sundae will be your tool to help others in your organization to understand what you already get and what you are eager to implement. It will help you to get the buy-in to do the new rules of marketing that you know makes sense.

But first your bosses may need to transform your company.

Meatball Sundae lays out in a convincing manner the transformations that are taking place in business today. These transformations mean that everything needs to be looked at carefully, including marketing. But to just toss new marketing onto the top of obsolete business models is like putting whipped cream and a cherry onto meatballs to make a sundae. (Yuk).

Godin tells a story I really like. Josiah Wedgewood, a potter in England in the 1800's at the start of the Industrial Revolution, was the first to create a factory with a production line and job specialization. He built a showroom and shipped product around the world. And he sold bespoke pieces to royalty but first displayed those fantastic and expensive creations for several months so all could see. (Wedgewood was a marketing genius AND a business pioneer.)

Josiah Wedgewood took advantage of changes in society and technology and changed the way business is done, made millions, and founded a company still famous today. But his brother Thomas Wedgewood stuck to the ways that all potters have worked in the past, barely made a living, and is forgotten today.

Godin says fourteen trends are completely remaking what it means to be a marketer. And while these trends are transforming organizations that have the right approaches, they are crippling the organizations that are stuck with nothing but meatballs. Once again, marketing is transforming what we make and how we make it.

If you ARE the boss, you should buy copies for your board members and investors...

A R Rahman wins Twin Oscars, Slumdog Millionaire 11 and Resul Pookutty 1

A. R. Rahman etched his name in history forever by winning two Oscar awards, for Slumdog Millionaire - best original soundtrack and best song. To cap it he even spoke in Tamil, which really gave me goosebumps. My wife and I were literall jumpin in joy as the secret was revealed. Truly historic moment indeed!

Earlier Resul Pookutty set the tone by winning his first Oscar.

Remarkable achievements, both!

A R Rahman wins 3 Oscar nominations

AR Rahman is now officially the first Indian with most Oscar nominations. I'm speechless, spell bounded, and running out of adjectives here. I want to congratulate him and wish him best of luck. I think I'll be in tears of joy when he performs on stage in Kodak Theater. Man o man this year is turning out to be so good. First there was Obama's presidency and now ARR's first Oscar appearance. Astounding !!!!

There's no doubt that Rahman will win at least one award, but I wouldn't be surprised if he bags both. Regardless, this is an achievement in itself. Though Slumdog Millionaire's soundtrack is great, it is definitely not one of his best. So I see his nomination and potential award(s) as a lifetime achievement rather than for his best effort to date. A feat which comes as a token of appreciation for all the years of hardwork he's done. Yet another proud moment for India and all Rahman fans.

Jai Ho ARR !!

BTW, Resul Pookutty also won a nomination in the sound engineering and editing category. Resul will forever be known as "the other guy" who got an Oscar nomination, simple because he is overshadowed by ARR.

A R Rahman wins Golden Globe

About 4 minutes and 28 secs ago, I witnessed a proud live moment in Indian cinema. A. R. Rahman won the Golden Globe Award for "original soundtrack in a motion picture" for Slumdog Millionaire.

The fact that Rahman beat the likes of James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer to the award is truly amazing. The shy and down-to-earth composer who had said earlier that “he was surprised” when he was nominated for the award has done the whole country proud by winning it, becoming the first Indian to do so. Shy as always, the Mozart from Madras thanked a billion Indians for their prayers.

Given that the Golden Globes are a precursor to the Oscars, will it be the first Oscar for India since Bhanu Athaiyya for Gandhi in 1982? Let's wait and see!

Updated: Video

Mumbai bleeds, Government sleeps

I am filled with rage and helplessness over the events of the last 3 days in Mumbai. The fact is that India is vulnerable and Indians are insecure. The authorities ordained to protect the country have failed miserably and the country's defense and intelligence have collapsed. Watching the Taj Mahal hotel burn for two days has felt like living through Mumbai's own 9/11, for the Taj is not merely a five-star hotel, it is a symbol of the city's identity, an iconic link between its rich past and bustling present.

Indian Mujahideen, Deccan Mujahideen, Students Islamic Movement in India, Sadhus and Sadhvis - the list goes on, but irrespective of the instigators, the frequency and the flawless execution of these attacks have all but underlined the fact that India, known for its hospitality, is a welcome abode for terrorists. They can strike at will.

While I am appalled at the ineptitude of the government to take drastic measures despite 8 terror attacks in 3 months, the fact that newspaper reports are able to give more information than Shivraj Patil, the Home Minister, is rediculous. The Home ministry, in its current state is a far cry from the one that Lal Krishna Advani managed and it is time to fire Shivraj Patil.

It only took one 9/11 for the US to revamp its internal security and while traveling has been a hassle since, the US is far more secure than in 2001. I am not sure how many attacks it would take for the government to take a tough stand on terrorism. It is time to think out side of vote banks and politics and provide a solution that prevents such attacks rather than reacts to them.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter if the color of terror is saffron or green, it needs to be wiped out.

Saroja - Scissors Nikalo

The decision to watch my first Tamil movie since Dasavatharam on a freezing Chicago night over hot bajjis turned out to be a good one until ...the bajjis got over.

Venkat Prabhu who gave us a simple, yet entertaining film, Chennai 28, has tried a different genre for his next offering. But having made the decision to dabble with a thriller in Saroja, he should gone all out at it and not confined himself to the rules of Tamil cinema - comedy and songs. If you take out the songs that act as brakes and a climax that promises to take you to Tokyo but lands you in Thoothukudi, the ride is not bad.

The plot is a cocktail of movies like Dil Chahta Hai, Easy Rider, Little Miss Sunshine and Home Alone and spans one day in the lives of four laymen visibly heading towards their thirties, Ajay (Shiva), Ganesh (Premji) and the Babu Brothers (Charan and Vaibhav), who have planned to see a cricket match in Hyderabad. They set out on their bizarre vehicle on to the Hyderabad highway with booze in hand, songs on lips and friendship in their hearts. The group comes to a scene of accident and is forced to go through a different route. Thanks to the chutzpah of the lead, they take a wrong turn and so does the story.

There is also a parallel thread involving troubled businessman Viswanathan (Prakashraj) whose daughter, Saroja, the nocturnal titular character, gets kidnapped and he solicits the help of police officer Ravichandran (Jayaram) to save her. As events go from bad to worse, the story threads knot and the four friends try to save their skin and return home alive, in the process meeting the hostage Saroja (Vega).

The screenplay is racy to an extent and Premji's comic sense lightens various tense moments in the movie - different, yet effective. Close friends addressing each other as "sir" was initially confusing and might even set off a trend, replacing meaningful words like "machi" and "machan" in the collegiate's lexicon. Cinematography, background music and lighting (or the lack thereof) contribute heavily to the mood of the movie and the director keeps the audience guessing the next direction the movie would veer into. Unfortunately, the climax doesn't quite live up to the built up suspense and the movie fizzles out. Jayaram is loud and his overacting kills the twist in the tale, which was a tad too trivial. The songs are a huge dampener and are out of place in a supposed road thriller.

Overall it is a good attempt at a different cup of tea albeit diluted with excess sugar and unnecessary spices (read myriad songs and unnecessary scenes).

Verdict: Overpaid Editor
Score: 2.5/5

Kapitalism

When Obama made his now famous quote - "Let's spread the wealth", he was branded a communist by the McCain campaign. Later that night McCain voted in favor of a 750 billion relief package, as part of which the government bought significant equity in ailing banks. You might dismiss the development as a drastic measure that is needed in drastic times, but it is hard to ignore the fact that the the world's most prominent practitioner of capitalism has steered away from the very essence of free market ideologies, whether or not it openly acknowledges it.

The debate between free market vs. state control has been raging since the times of Adam Smith and wars have been fought on it. But one look at the two countries involved in the Cold War, conveys a paradigm shift in their market beliefs. While communism collapsed in the erstwhile Soviet Union and Russia has since become the cradle of capitalistic debauchery, the US has opened the iron curtain to communism, if not openly embracing it. In fact, the current economic crisis has been so devastating that once-cherished assumptions about the superiority of the U.S. economic model are now in doubt. Talks are also underway regarding a 25 billion relief package for the Big 3.

Call it industrial policy, or use the euphemism of "public-private partnership." But as America emerges from the rubble of the credit bubble and soberly confronts the task of building a strong, sustainable economy, the new credo will likely be "whatever works." The lawmakers of the country have slowly realized that this is not the time for ideologies, but desperate decisions, but subconsciously they also have to accept that no perfect theory can be practical. The middle ground, which America often refuses to take, is often the right answer. As the saying goes - it doesn't matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches the mice.