That feeling – I can smell it in the air!

I want to share a very intimate phenomena that happens with me every year.

 During this time of the year, when monsoons are over and winters are approaching, I feel AWESOME!

There is something about this phase. I feel elated for everything that I see or do. I feel good about the people living in slums who are taking an afternoon nap on their terrace (which I can see from my 12^th floor office window).

I feel excited about the concept called LIFE. Everything looks beautiful. It has a weird psychedelic effect on me. I can sense the upcoming festivity. I CAN SMELL THE CRACKERS IN THE AIR.

I visualize the market place decorated with lanterns, crowd thronging the streets, shops extended to the road, houses taking a shower with lights etc…

I was skeptical about sharing this concept. I did tell this very recently to someone who also experiences the same. If you feel the same do click on like button J

Contemporary design - Creating the differentiation





I wish to highlight the recent changes in  Hotel design and the impact of the same on consumer experience.

I recently experienced Novotel - Hyd and Vivanta by Taj.

Traditional hotel rooms were having a bath tub which is no more prominent in modern properties.

Well, When I use a bath tub, invariably i get up with a guilt of wasting water - close to 200 liters which otherwise could have been sorted out in 20 liters!

Things which I really like about the new design is that they are vibrant, bright and full of utilities.

I remember connecting my laptop with LCD and working on it was fun. The bedside iHome puts a smile on Apple users. The rooms are designed keeping in mind the modern day traveler. The connectivity panel which can connect the most of modern day devices was impressive. I like blackberry charging port the most!

Rooms had one touch control to manoeuver the room lighting temp etc.I was wondering if i make my parents stay here, they will spend the night figuring out how to operate !

This was reiterated when I experienced the electronic shower next morning :)

The design element was leaving a mark in coffee-shop ,conference halls etc. Well lit, bright carpets and concealed lighting's make the hall look bigger than it is.

I am happy to see the tectonic shift in hotel design. Thankfully we have moved away from maroon carpets and golden chandeliers :)

Innovation

Recently I attended a Operations Road Show. It was amazing to hear from one of the best leader of the century.

The way they define innovation is "It is a interaction of imagination with reality"

What an apt description, very true... What we see around was an imagination at some point in time.

The question is why innovate? If we don't someone will do & serve customers better by taking our share away.So, for the very own existence innovation is must.

To put innovation to action, we can use these analogies:

1)If Apply was to design...
2)If BMW was to drive efficiency...
3)South Western to take costs out...
4)Google was to develop a Mobile Interface...

What they would have done...

Now the question is all the companies are having similar strategies... meetings/summits etc.

The differentiator is the thirst for getting better and better and better and better and better...

The winner will be decided by one thing. "How badly you want it?"

Customer service

Today I went to a dhaba where I use to have my dinner when I was an intern in a prestigious 5 star property of Delhi. This dates back to winters of 2002. This dhaba wala remember me for two reason:

• The most regular customer
• The last customer (every day; He has to keep it open till 2330 hrs for me)

Well, Today I had my lunch at the same place. Some cops were having their lunch & some painters/labors were also having lunch.

What I liked was a painter who was wearing a green T shirt & white trouser (with paint marks on them, half day work result) Good amount of paint was sticking on hands also. He ordered dal and 4 thick tandoori rotis. The dhaba wala asked rudely “Makhan lega”. He said “aaj de do”. He had some good earnings for the day, so he was relishing it. It was a Rs.2/- butter packet (which was a treat for him).

The butter was divided into 2 parts

• One piece into dal
• The other was equally rubbed on all 4 rotis.

The wrapper was rubbed in hot dal to squeeze the little butter sticking to the wrapper, wiped with colorful fingers & licked with a smile full of gratification. Today was his day. He was shaved freshly , neatly combed hairs. I kept watching him eating his food with colorful fingers.

Thanks to festivals like ‘diwali’ which allows money to flow down to these people, who in turn can have some colorful days!

Dispose Responsibly!!!

We have seen this symbol on most of the electronic gadgets, batteries, cells etcetera. This symbol says do not dispose this item/gadget in the dustbin as it will harm the environment.


In India most of the gadgets carry the same symbol (might be because we are becoming global). My question to the marketing team of big brands is where we dispose them when finding dustbin is a challenge.

I would like to make a point here that why can’t we be real and practical or maybe we can implement executionable ideas.


In developed countries, there are collection days for hazardous waste and centers where people can dispose of these items. May be in India the battery companies can offer buyback for lithium ion batteries which generally goes into the dustbin.

In India the lead acid batteries are mostly recycled but in an inefficient and harmful to environment manner as checks are not there in place.


Final word is, please find out an actionable way of reducing impact on environment rather than just branding ourselves in an unsustainable manner.

My Distant mentor

David Novak;

I am a big fan of this personality who is Chairman & CEO of Yum Brands Inc.
He has authored a book 'The education of an accidental CEO'

He has written his heart out in this book and I suppose he has been dead honest in that.
Once he graduated out of college, he got a job of selling encyclopedias. He manage to sold some on day one.
He honestly admits that, he was not a good salesman but its the old women who bought this just for a chat. Probably in that age she don't need an encyclopedia but needs someone to
share his loneliness.

He was unhappy after the transaction and quit that job and later became an account executive for Frito lay.

The second instance where he has shown intense courage is when Taco Bell was in news for all the bad reasons before an investors meet.
There was a store located in New York metro station and New York is famous for big rats. The store was undergoing some pest control activities and the team worked till 3 in the night.
They left a hole in the wall to come back tomorrow and fix it up.

The big rats came in the store and some passer by filmed a clipping through the front glass door. This was one of the top ten watched video on you tube next morning; right before the investors meet.
The top management wanted to postpone the meeting. David said no and started the meeting with a rock solid confidence. He said let me appreciate the media for making us realize where we are going wrong and then he declared to cancel the store license because of location issues.

The investors responded well and nobody raised a single question about the sensitive issue.

I get huge inspiration from him.

The Indian Traffic Scenario 2020

I get excited when I foresee traffic situation in 2020.
Roads:
Roads will be widened to the maximum possible space but the traffic will still flow as a perennial stream @ 10 km/hr. Yes, the road dividers will be thin sliced to give way to traffic.
Flyovers will have multiple levels, one over the other. You will be paying a Rs.300 bill if you wish to travel from the top tier.
Every house will have a red light; you can enter the road only once it’s green!

Cars:
Nano will be big ancient petrol run car. Companies will fight to build even smaller car. Marketers from B-school will be positioning them on the grounds of sideways shock absorbers! Yes the side body of the car will contain 6” shock absorbers on all sides. Latest technology will allow 1 minute come back of dented portion guarantee. Car body will of fiber plastic till window allowing ample space for daily collision and scratches. The day you don’t get one will be considered misfortune!
All cars design will be like this:



So that bikers can ride over the car and overtake without disturbing the car driver.(Traffice rule: Biker got to overtake from the top left side of the car only as driver is sitting on right)





Car Insurance:
They will provide 30 minute guarantee to reach on site of collision like pizza guys used to do in 2010. The mobile team will be accessible on toll free number. They will inspect both vehicles and take photograph and issue cheque amounting to damage calculated by an algorithm written by IIM-A guy.
IMT marketing guys will be positioning auto insurance companies on grounds of 2 minutes claim settlement on road (collision site).


Animal fencing from the highways will be removed as there won’t be any left to come over. Guess where the animals of 2020 are, they all will be driving the car!