Ironic?

October 31st, 2005 • Culture Briefings

Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden has been my favorite book ever since I first read it. Its made into a movie now. Exciting!
Only, the lead actress, who plays the famous Geisha, is Chinese.

I don’t really care, but I can’t stop wondering– would the movie be better had a Japanese actress performed the lead role?!

Oh and the movie is also releasing its line of cosmetics. Another fantastic promotional tactic!

Halloween – a comerical party

October 31st, 2005 • Culture Briefings

Last night I saw two huge, beefy men dressed as babies in diapers, the bib and a milk bottle in their hands. They also wore teeny closed-toed round booties and short shocks.
I also saw a skinner version of Hitler, a couple hundred milk-maids, a few wanna-be hookers, and random assasins and skletons.

Thankfully, now the pumpkins will disappear, the wretched looking scarcrows and the annying radio commercials of Halloween sales.

Oh yes, maybe the thrift stores in my city will also take off their "Halloween Costumes" posters.

Relief. Temporarily though. Christmas is just around the corner.

Keeping the Shibuya Girls happy

October 31st, 2005 • Culture Briefings

LA Times has an article about the trend-setting Shibuya Girls. Shibuya district is known to attract thousands of people : young, old, students, businessmen, travelers, foreigners alike.
The article is fascinating- I will be writing a longer piece on the Shibuya District soon.

A store designed like a railway station

October 27th, 2005 • 4 comments To be filed

Pantaloon Retail India Limited, a significantly young and very successful Indian retailer has recently launched another retail chain to its portfolio. The new retial chain, called Fashion Station, presents a unique viewpoint that I had yet to witness.

It’s USP is, "Fashion that fits your budget." Although Indian consumers are becoming more brand conscious, the KSA Indian Consumer and Retail Outlook study found that 58% of apparel for young women and 42% of apparel for young men are unbranded. This is primarily because in addition to having the trendiest, hippest clothes, it is very important for the Indian youth to be able to afford them. A majority of the youth depend on their parents for financial support until they (typically have a master’s degree or join the family business) can support themselves.

When I went back to India after graduating, I had a $1000 saved solely for the purpose of shopping in Bombay. I was psyched with the idea of returning with brimming suitcases for that much money. Only– it is an urban myth if you are like me who believed that "things" are cheaper in India. THAT is just not the case. While I cringed at paying Rs 60 for a cup of coffee, I almost couldn’t bring myself to buy clothes that were priced beyond Rs 800 (that’s like $16)
Ofcourse, it is all contingent on the places you shop at. Even then, I simply failed to find a store that had clothes priced within my budget and that fit me!
(With all these Asian imports, it is next to impossible for me to find a decent fit. The independent boutiques have too tiny fits)

So Pantaloon’s Fashion Station wins on two accounts. Affordability and Trendy (hopefully they offer regular sizes as well!)

Thirdly, it has gone one step ahead and taken creative license over the design and layout of the store. The entire store is formatted like a modern railway station!  Sections have fun, quirky names such as Style Platform, Baby Wagon, Time Travel, Accessory Junction, Sports Terminal, First Class Casuals and Evening XPress.

The Station has youthful, trendy music (popular bollywood songs and top MTV hits!) playing with a journey-related jingle every few songs to elicit the feel of a train journey! Additionally, there are blinkers fitted throughout the store that blink periodically to indicate great bargains and offers.

So in addition to offering great prices, the store has also nailed in on offering a unique experience to its consumers. I can’t wait to visit it on my next trip to India.
 
 

Where are the offices of the future?

October 27th, 2005 • Culture Briefings

An article in the November Fast Company says that, this year there are 19.5 million "distributed" workers. A 10.9 million increase from 2000. Distributed workers are essentially an emerging breed of workers who work from home, the nearby Starbucks or wherever they fancy. 

The debate about virtual offices and telecommuting has been around since 1993 when Jay Chiat, founder of Chiat-Day advertising agency and one of the most influential men of that decade, decided to do away with his employees offices and desks and instead equiped them with Powerbooks and phones. He got the design stalwart Frank Gehry to design the new LA building and Italian designer Geatano Pesce to design the NY building on his new vision that had lots of comfy sofas, colors and a bunch of conference rooms that were meant only for client meetings.

Near the entrance, the concierge desk had a huge, bright-red pair of lips
painted around it. The floor – there were rumors Chiat spent $1 million
on it – glowed in multicolored hues, and had hieroglyphs painted all over
it. (For example, the sign for the men’s room was an illustration of a
man peeing.)
- Wired Magazine

His employees were free to work from any location in the office. They had no offices, no phone lines, no desks. Jay Chiat saw "architecture and technology" as the future and worked on his vision.

 For a while it seemed that everyone in
the ad business had caught Chiat’s raging fever: Fallon McElligott briefly
experimented with portable offices; the MadDogs &Englishmen agency installed
desks that attached to the ceiling and moved on tracks, like bumper cars.
But in the end, the cubicle survived Chiat’s insurrection.

-Wired Magazine

Unfortunately for Chiat, he was 10 years too early. His new experiment went downhill within a year. His employees didn’t have meeting spaces, didn’t have a voice mail or permanent phones– couldn’t find the right people in the huge sprawling space where it was easy to get lost.  However, it will be 2006 soon and maybe, time again to try Chiat’s experiment.

The idea of virtual offices or a more relaxed work environment has its own advantages and disadvantages…even then more and more companies are realizing the need to nurture the creative talents of their employees and they have figured it out that a 9 to 5  desk job (that in most cases involves a substanial but of communting) does not help the case.

Jim Ware of Work Design Collaborative LLC, in the article says that there is pretty substanial evidence that distributed workers are more productive. And Charlie Grantham adds that there is a wealth of talent out there that normally can’t be tapped into if you have to move the people to work.

Further more, a 2004 Business Week article about workplaces for the future said,

In fact, the idea that an office is an enclosure with walls is already
disappearing, thanks to technologies such as Wi-Fi, which provides
high-speed access to a network or the Internet from any place a
connected employee chooses to wander, be it down the hall or to a café,
airport, or hotel.

A shift from the traditional work place offices is evident in the near future. Maybe as soon as 2006. Who knows. I don;t need to state the obvious but technology has made it possible to conduct business 10,000 miles across. A friend who works for IBM often works from home when the weather outside sucks. Her boss encourages his team to work from their homes because he thinks its a waste to spend several hours communting to work, getting stuck in traffic and dealing with the weather. Another friend who runs his own business, often starts work at 9pm in the night and works away till wee hours of the morning. He claims to be more productive that way and even though he pays rent for an office space, he uses it only to schedule meetings with clients.

On the down side,  I think there are only a certain kind of people that will be more productive with the non-traditional work styles. Some people simply prefer the structure, the routine and the security and familiarity of their office space. Also, there is only a certain kind of work that can be "virtualized." Industries like advertising and marketing, designing, media etc work largely on collaboration and it is very likely that these teams will not work at all if their members are dispersed!

All arguments granted– in today’s day and age, I just am convinced that there is going to be a seismic shift in people’s working habits. Some have tried and failed miserably. Some will continue to try. The idea of a desk-office will never be erased or replaced but jobs
that are possible to be virtualized will definitely become virtualized.

South Asian is now a category

October 25th, 2005 • Culture Briefings

I’ve been on a job-hunt for the past month and half. And everytime I have to fill out the demographic box, I blindly click on Asian American. A more correct way to identify myself would be as South Asian. Simply because when you mention Asia, it immediately draws up sterotypical images of Chinese, Japanese, Indonesians, and the other "Asians."

India, Sri-Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh– are all collectively known as South Asia because we more or less share similar cultural values. And we look a little alike too

But South Asians as a category has never been included anywhere. Not in job-hunt software, in college applications, when signing up for newsletters, services… just about anything!
(there’s something called Pacific Islander that I thought I might fit into but later realized it was for the Islanders. And there’s the "other" category, which I detest!)

So imagine my surprise and glee when I recieve an email from a local market research group I am a member of asking me if I would kindly log into my account and specify the type of Asian I am.
The email mentioned the growing number of South Asian and how strongly this particular demographic had been ignored in adveritising and marketing campaigns.
The realizaiton came late. But hey– I’m have a category now!

This was a teeny research group in Philadelphia. But perhaps its the begining. Maybe others will follow lead and give the South Asian community the recognition it deserves.

If only these major corporations had any idea how BIG OF A DIFFERENCE it would make if they included say one, just one 2 second spot of an Indian family celebrating Diwali in their commericals. Or an Indian wedding procession … or an indian family in a car…
just one clip.

Atleast we are a category now. horray.

Bath and Body Works joins the bandwagon

October 25th, 2005 • To be filed

Harry Slatkin Designs for Bath and Body Works

Bath and Body Works, the Limited Brands company, has set its eye on becoming the next Sephora. A more detailed report on that , later.

For now, BBW is following the Target model and inviting luxury designers to join its entourage.

Fragrance Designer, Harry Slatkin’s has designed the Holiday Home Fragrance collection for Bath and Body Works this season. The pieces are beautifully designed and come in three fragrances, tree, spice and frosted cranberry. A major shift from BBW’s usual. The Slatkin product line has packed the oomph factor– and looks very very classy.

Bath and Body Works is in the midst of energizing its brand by adding other high-profile brands to its portfolio. From accquring Henri Bendel candles to signing on Patricia Wexler (the make-up maker for celebrities) to make lip plumpers –BBW has successfully managed to increase its profits and also bring in consumers from other demographics.

Straight Questions: Pink is the New Blog

October 25th, 2005 • 2 comments To be filed

Of course you’ve heard of pink is the new blog- you most certainly have! Most celebrities (and celebrity pairs, girl-friends… the works!) have been re-christened by Trent with wittier, funnier names (Spederline, for Britney and Kevin) and the gossip-mongers amongst us are addicted to Trent’s pink-liners that make the paparazzi pictures even more interesting.

What interested me the most about Trent and his blog was the fierce, individual voice that stands out amidst the gossip and the good-natured banter. His little captions and inserts on the photographs is perhaps one of the most popular reasons why 90,000 visitors flock to his site daily.

Today Pink probably holds more authority and packs more entertainment than other tabloids. The phenomena of when a blogger crosses the threshold of simply being a blogger to becoming a celebrity fascinates me, which is why I was interested in talking to Trent Venagas. This former school-teache has single-handedly (rather a post a day!) revolutionized the color pink and the idea of tabloid news.

Style Station: Why do you think celebrities make so much news?
Trent: We live in an age where people have the ability to get information as soon as anything occurs.  The Internet has really changed the way that gossip is consumed by the people.  It creates a seemingly insatiable need to know everything … right down to the mundane.

StyleStation: Would you call yourself a celebrity-junkie?
Trent: Not a junkie … I am an avid fan of celebritydom but not to the point of addiction.

StyleStation: Pick one. Brittney vs. Paris
Trent: Britney.  She has really accomplished so much in her life
as a celebrity … Paris is fun and I love her too but if I have to
choose between the 2 I’m going with Britney.

StyleStation: Among the celebrities, who do you think is the classiest?
Trent: When I think classy I’m thinking people like Nicole
Kidman.  She’s an amazing actress and seems like a nice person.  If I’m
thinking trashy I’m thinking someone like Tara Reid.  But that is only
because of all the partying … any celebrity, or regular person for
that matter, who goes overboard with the partying will come off as
trashy.  The fact that Tara also unknowlingly let her boob hang out in
front of the paparazzi is also another indicator of trashiness.

StyleStation: You taught US Government. It’s such a contrast when I think of you in terms of pinkisthenewblog. Do your students read your blog?
Trent: When I taught none of them knew of the blog’s existance.  Since leaving the school I’ve heard from many of them and yes they do read the blog.

StyleStation: Your fashion acumen is right on target. I’m sure you get invited to concerts and movie screenings. Where else has your advice been seeked  and has your blog led to any cool projects? I know I’d dig it if you were to write a column in People magazine or Blender for that matter!
Trent: I’ve been asked to provide commentary on a few different TV shows.  I would love to contribute to a magazine if asked. I am started to become more comfortable with the notion that my perspectives are being sought out.  It’s a strange thing to get used to … I’m just a dude from Detroit.

StyleStation: How has your blog changed your lifestyle? Do youconstantly keep your eyes and ears open for celebrity news? What are your other interests– and do you get to indulge them? Has pink, glamorized your life? How?
Trent: I’ve been doing my blog for so long now (3 years) that it has become a part of my lifestyle.  I do constantly keep my eyes and ears open for new information … but not because I feel I have to but because I enjoy the gossip myself.  I enjoy concerts, movies, hanging out with my friends … and I do indulge my other interests because my life cannot be just about one thing.  Pink has glamorized my life in that I am now being sought out to give my perspective on things. Because I show up on TV people think I’m "famous" and I contend that I am not.

StyleStation: What’s coming-up for Pink now? A print mag? A radio show? A TV show?
Trent: Well … I’m not sure what the next thing will be.  I’m trying to weigh my options because if I decide to move forward with a new endeavor I want it to be fun.  I am just floored by the possibility that a blog that I love to do might turn into a job that I will love to do as well.

…..thats what most bloggers hope for and yes, you saw right. That is Trent with Madonna.

Youth Report

October 25th, 2005 • 1 comment To be filed

The Phatgnat Youth Survey has already been downloaded over 500 times– and it is still free!
Download your crisp 20 page copy here and spread the word.

Phatgnat’s report offers incredible insights into the workings of the youths minds– factors that influence their purchasing decisions.. and what the youth really care about.
Some surprising stats from the survey:

Only 5.1% of the youth really care about celebrity endorsements
and 44.3% of the youth couldn’t care less about advertisements!!

Really, just download the report.

DIY Scarf-Sherbet To go

October 25th, 2005 • 1 comment To be filed

I got my camera in mail today! yippie.. it’s a beautiful, Canon SD300, so sleek, so tiny that I couldn’t resist showing it off to my friends! I set out to photograph the city and the cool stores I had in mind. Ofcourse I would ask permission in the stores to click pictures and ofcourse very few of them actually give permission.

But this product caught my eye. It’s called Cup Of Yarn. (Please click on the image for a larger picture) It includes a DIY instruction booklet of how to knit a full-length scarf..and comes wonderfully packed in cute smoothie-like glasses, with a pair of bamboo knitting needles!

It looks delectable! And has delicious flavors (if you will!) like rainbow sherbet, cool mint, passion fruit and very berry.

The credit for this wonderful, colorful idea goes to Tigo Enterprises (that according to Creative Leisure News, already has a line of suede products including a pencil set is one of Oprah’s favorite products)

I found these cups at a local papiere in central philly. (tell me if you want the address)
but you can buy them online here.

If I had more money, this would definitely be on my Christmas list of Gifts to give.

New Avenues: where branding and filming merge

October 21st, 2005 • Marketing/ Advertising

Movies increasingly apply non-traditional marketing and promotional methods

Zathura, the new film by Sony Pictures hits the theaters on November 11th. Last night, the two teams on The Apprentice: Donald Trump, were given the task of building a parade float for Zathura. Zathura’s director, Jon Favreau selected the winning team whose float correctly translated all of Zathura’s brand attributes. The winning float had the name Zathura painted on it four times, it even had an audio clip announcing the name. The float captured the robots, metorities and the house floating in space with a galactic backdrop.
<– Winning Float

An average of 9.9 million viewers (actually a 37% drop from last year, according E!Online) who, if even had heard of Zathura, heard about it over and over again for one hour last night.  In exchange for an undisclosed (for now) amount, Zathura managed to scoop an excellent marketing coup: a one hour advertisement! That will  not only instigiate word-of-mouth but will also be talked about, written about and discussed.

A movie, on an average, spends $20M to $25M on marketing and promotions. With increasing segmentation among audiences and new technologies like Tivo, even the entertainment industry is begining to face the draught in pulling in audiences and are now looking for non-traditional modes of advertising.
We’ll find out later if this tie-in managed to increase Zathura’s viewership- but for now, it seems like a very interesting industry move. (Check here for the Apprentice’s (Donald) vendor’s list for this season.)

India: Employs non-traditional methods as well
In India too, marketers are searching for non-traditional methods of advertising the movies. A recent Bollywood movie, Ek Hasina Thi (that didn’t exactly break box-office records) tied-up with  local coffee shops, Barista, to promote itself through a contest. Another movie, Dum, contracted Cafe Coffee Day to promote itself by selling mugs, tshirts, posters etc.

….including blogs!
Bipasha Basu, a Bollywood heartthrob has started penning a blog, talking about her new movie. Her first entry alone, recieved, 190 comments. (It’s updated very sporadically!) Ofcourse, it is a publicity stunt but it has managed to create quite a stir.
Mira Nair’s upcoming film, The Namesake, (based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s book) produced by Fox Search Light Films also had a blog – this blog was penned by Kal Penn, the actor of the Namesake. He often posted clips and pictures making the blog interactive. I actually quite liked it. and am looking forward to see the movie. A movie blog, when penned by one of its actors, AND if done honestly and correctly manages to establish a private and emotional connection with the viewers.

Infact, David Duchovny has a blog about "The House of D".  I’m sure fake blogs are regularly created – but if there are any genuine ones- do you know of any?

My guess is, each movie is percieved as a brand now. Movies like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter changed the perception of movies. On Apprentice, Zathura’a director Jon, talked of this movie as a brand… the contestants treated the movie like a brand…And each brand, needs its own distinct identification. Oh well.. the things people gotta do!! But that just translates fun, with a capital F for us consumers. We get to enjoy their endeavors!! haha

However, it will be interesting to see how entertainmen channels will find new avenues for promotion and markting.

Coffee Colored India

October 20th, 2005 • 18 comments Culture Briefings

In-Depth: Coffee Culture in India

In September 2002, BBC news filed an article marking the birth of the coffee culture in India. I was still in 12th Grade then and Barista had instantly become a hit among my circle of friends. I still remember the sparkling evenings we spent sipping on expensive Blue Curacau’s and biting into the stale paneer sandwiches. The coffee and granita’s Barista offered were exotic to our ears, the decor and the ambience was warm and inviting and the extra special throw-ins like that guitar and board games like Scrabble and Chess endeared Barista to us. It was unique.

Then I visited Bombay in 2003 and was in for a total reverse culture-shock. Here I had just returned from StarBucks land to a city that seemed to have mushroomed with coffee chains over night! There were Baristas, Cafe Coffee Day (what’s with the name! Its CCD among the youth, btw) and even Cafe Mocha (as if they couldn’t come up with something more original! and sorry, looks like this one doesn’t have a website)

My city had been Starbucked! Only it wasn’t Starbucks.

I am not a coffee-drinker. Infact, I am neither a tea partron. I don’t even like sodas. But I appreciate the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. And I learnt to appreciate it in Italy. You will laugh if I tell you that during the three months that I lived in Italy, I probably had coffee twice or maybe thrice. Really. But I hung out at the little coffee shops.
I was in awe when I sat on a chair at Florian in Venice, reputedly the oldest cafe in the world….I was told that poets and writers, artists and painters got together in cafe’s to exchange stories, discuss politics and just relax. Some writers had their own tables where they would work everyday, without being bothered.

Cafe’s were a cultural merging point. And the best thing about the cafe’s in Italy is that each little cafe has its own, special aura, barista and color.

Zoning back to India. Marketers have tried new techniques to attract consumers. And I guess to simulate the european cafe culture, where going out for coffee is a way of life, not an added commodity or an inserted culture. Cafe Mocha’s slogan is "Coffee and Conversations." and in an effort to be more original, it aims at creating a stronger bond within its community.

Mocha has taken the community building route to strengthen its brand
and sustain customer loyalty. It is adding new clubs — music and coffee
and wine appreciation — to its existing two, the Backpackers Club and
the Film Club.

while Cafe Coffee Day, on the other hand..offers a more value-for-money deal. The newest to enter the bandwagon is, American Barnies Gourmet Coffee and Tea Company. How deluded is the Indian Director for the chain, Ravish Mehra when he makes the following statement:

Indian consumers are yet to taste a ‘real’ cup of coffee. The
futuristic machines and Barnie’s expertise promise a good cup of
coffee. Players such as Barista and Cafe Coffee Day have introduced the
coffee culture and, thus, the platform is ready for us,” Mehra said, on
competition.

Especially when reports indicate that 60% of Barista’s sales are brewed from teas,
smoothies, food items and merchandise.
The Bangalore-headquartered Cafe
Coffee Day earns 70% of its sales come from beverages including
coffee.
And at Cafe Mocha, coffee sales are up from 14% per cent in 2002( when it first started)  to 17%  today. (2005)

If that’s not of an enough eye-opener, according to a 2005 research
report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, India’s
coffee consumption has been increasing only at 2.2% per annum.

With
consumption pegged at 70,000 tonnes, branded coffee accounts for 53 %, unbranded 40 %, with cafes constituting 7%.
Industry estimates peg the annual growth rate of the coffee-house
segment at a half per cent clip.

Why then, are marketers and directors making tall claims and gushing about the (inexistant) coffee culture in India!? All three coffee chains, Barista, Cafe Coffee Day and Cafe Mocha offer sandwiches, pastries, smoothies and other snacks. Even the new Barnies Coffee is trying to co-brand with bookstores or Taco Maker, the
US-based Mexican cuisine chain.

At my most recent visit to Bombay this summer, my favorite Barista outlet had installed a teeny-weeny book-store inside the store. Ingenious! But it wouldn’t allow patrons to borrow books while they enjoying their coffee!! You gotta buy the magazine or the book to take it out of that book-store! What’s the point then?

So you ask me what is the point of this article?
Simple. Coffee culture does not exist in India. Yes, people enjoy novelty, they enjoy new ideas and new places but it is definitely not just coffee.

I gaurantte, if tomorrow some smart, rich, business-man finds a way to make tea look cool, there will be reports headlined India going back to its roots- tea culture breaths back to life!  Any more chains intending to capitalize on this so-called coffee craze or coffee culture in India is better off introducing a new concept to us Indians. How about bringing bubble tea to India? or oooh, italian gelato?!
If anything, India will devour a new idea or a new concept happily. And hungrily.

In someone else’s bubble…

October 19th, 2005 • To be filed

Ever wondered what it would be like to step into another person’s private atmosphere to see, feel, think, imagine and smell his/her memories, joys, hurts and moments of grace?

Finnish Artist, Hilda Kozari, has created an Olfactory installation for the SAUMA Design Exhibition. Kozari has created three massive bubbles that immerse an outsider in her worlds. The three bubbles represnt her personal memories and experiences of the three cities that are special to her: Helinski, Budapest and Paris. Once you enter her bubble, you watch random images, vidoes, photographs and past remnants that inspire the idea of her memories and present Kozari’s nostalgia in a visual and olfactory format. Yes, olfactory. The bublle emnates with scents of the city it represents.

The odor of a city is not just about the sea, wind, parks, buildings and garbage, but also about people, the living environment, and its emotional, cultural and industrial life connected to memory. As in a personal perfume, the smell of the city depends strongly on the balance of odors. …

The impression of thyme has easily been produced with the odor of thyme oil. It has been necessary to use several effects in creating the impression of pollution: juniper tar oil for a smoky impression, nutmeg and synthetic compounds to represent the gasoline and the oily, greasy effect of a garage smell.

I don’t know enough about art or design to appreciate installations. But Kozari’s piece struck a chord within me. I am just so touched knowing that I can actually witness someone else’s worlds .. just by immersing myself in them.

If I had to make three bubbles to allow you into my world, I’d choose Bombay, Rome and Philadelphia. Three cities that mean much to me.

What about you?
(Link Via NowSmellThis)

I am going to invite Hilda for Straight Questions. I haven’t forgotten about the feature
Coming soon..
pink is the new blog on Straight Questions
Anina,
Moorish Girl..

Human Advertisements: India

October 19th, 2005 • Marketing/ Advertising

This is not that earth-shattering or alarming, but still newsworthy.
A new method of advertising in Bombay is raising questions. Young boys are hired to stand along the peripheries of major roads donning huge ad. banners to grab the attention of consumers driving along or waiting in traffic in their cars/buses.
Read Youth Curry’s excellent report about it here.

Finding xmas

October 19th, 2005 • To be filed

Yep. That was my agenda this evening when I rounded up the near-by stores to check how they are gearing up for Christmas and the holidays.

Body Shop: no loud decorations, no loud christmas music yet- but guess what? looks like all the top executives of beauty stores collectively decided to have America smelling like apples, cranberries, pumpkins and vanilla. Body Shop, in slight variations and combinations has the same fragrances like Bath and Body Works. Only they are a lot more expensive. Body Shop seriously needs to re-energize itself, its products and just it’s look.

H&M: there are still no signs of christmas having struck this store yet but the recent fashion week in Paris sure did! maybe its because I am still a broke graduate hunting for her first job- or because H&M is really value for money, but they have some really cool knock-offs of runway fashion only more adaptable and affordable. Sometimes when I window-shop at H&M, its almost as though I’m shopping right off the pages of Lucky magazine!

Barnes and Noble: this darling of a store, my most favorite hang-out spot in the city, is still blissfully in its halloween stages! well, they do have a table stacked with holiday greeting card packs, but that was just about it!

I’ve spotted some new stores in strange nooks and corners of downtown philly that look promising and different. And I have successfully managed to buy a digital camera too! A good one at that. So excited! Now I can actually take my own pictures instead of relying on google.
I will be covering the changing landscape of the city stores as the holiday season approaches so keep returning. Until then, happy finding xmas in your own down-towns!

Football in a urinal

October 18th, 2005 • To be filed

Fun for men: didn’t know germans have the option of even enjoying their peeing-time. Time for some shoot-and-flush?
(Via Gaurav Sabnis)

Christmas is… a couple blocks away.

October 18th, 2005 • 1 comment To be filed

Indeed. I visited the 16th and Walnut, Bath and Body Works, (one of my all time favorite stores) and it already had its Christmas tree’s set up: with the candles, the shiny ornaments and the red/green combinations!

I browsed the store…my feet tapping to Whams, "Last Christmas…" Every winter, Bath and Body works, without fail, whips out Cranberry, Apple and Vanilla fragrances. Just last week, they still had their Brown Sugar and Fig and Pumpkin– which were, apparently their fall fragrances.
What I don’t…understand is how un-cool will it be to have all of America smelling like BBW’s cranberry, vanilla or apple?! Ok, I exaggerated a little, but a considerably large number of Americans are BBW patrons.

So back to my confusion: Winters depress me. I need fun, sweet, uplifting scents to lift my spirits and the warmy vanillas or cranberrys just won’t do it. I actually enjoy the light, frothy limey scents more. even in summer. I am positive that most of America perfers the warm scents, but still! How can winter whittle down to just three scents in this  country?

Food, er, scent for thought, huh?

But getting back to my orginal observation: yeah, christmas is already here. BBW is among the first’s to shine itself up, but others will soon join the league. The Philly weather is still pleasantly cool– but these stores are a great reminder of the cheery holiday season, just around the corner..uh.. block.

Some really smart women…

October 18th, 2005 • To be filed

were very angry and upset when they thought of this!

I had to laugh when I found this site. Dont Date Him Girl, is a compedium of –hold your breath– cheaters! This site allows women to quickly check to see if the current man she’s dating has been labelled a cheater– or has cheated on anyone in the past.
That’s such a wacky idea. hahaha
It’s worth a check, just for a good laugh, if not to learn more about your boyfriends. hahah

More on open-source

October 17th, 2005 • To be filed

Has a short article about cool-hunting and its future. Instead of Dee-Dee Gordon, Jane Buckingham and the usual- this time its josh spear, reiner evers and the ubercool blogs/sites that send daily dispatches of cool.
PSFK, predicted last year that the year 2005 will see the end of trend-forecasting as a paid service. I couldn’t agree more. With all the information freely avaiable on the net- and only six degrees of separation connecting the whole world, why would anyone pay to recieve information?

But then again: there would be too many places to look at, too much to remember, too much time will be consumed.

Thinking off the top of my head: I recieve 20-30 email newsletters everyday that I take time to read. In some of them, like the dialycandy.com newsletter or the Trendcentral newsletter or even the coolhunting newsletter– I just want them to cut out the crap, the sweet/sassy words and just provide me the actual information in bullet points. Like, where is this place, what is this place, why is this place cool or what about it is cool.
Thats it.

I am by no means a busy person. Busy would be an actual marketer or an analyst or just someone with a job that takes up 10-12 hours of his/her day. With my part-time jobs and job-hunting, if I find it cumbersome AND time-consuming to sift through all this information, you can only imagine the plight of these actually busy people!
There’s just too much information out there– available via too many sources. There should be and there will be one (very soon) blog that will round up all the cool vignettes from these sites in a no-nonsense format.

That’s just my two cents…

Conundrum Cameras

October 17th, 2005 • To be filed

I’ve been on a roll. Literally.
I’ve been of the opinion that Canon or Nikon are the two of the trusted companies when it comes to cameras. I’ve been consulting friends, websites and review sites for great deals and options on digital cameras.
My philisophy is simple: if I’m spending $300, I better get a good deal, a good value and ofcourse, no second doubts.
But after a while: all those reviews, the ratings, the opinions just zoom in and out in a cacaphony of noise thats just inside my head!

I wish there was a service: that simply stated the best deals, the best options and made life ten thousand times simpler for me.
Oh and it would help if camera companies found a better nomenclature instead of random alphabets and numbers!

For foodies..

October 14th, 2005 • To be filed

You know what I love about blogs? the fact that they (SOME OF THEM!) are honest and do not try to please anyone. Which is why they and how they retain their credibility and legibility.

I’ve browsed through her site often, only glancing and enjoying the pretty pictures and vignettes about eating and food. And because I like her so much- (AND SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE DO!) its high time I share her with my readers.
Meet Chezpim, 30-something foodie, orginally from the West Coast but travels all over the world to try new restuarants and share it with her readers on her blog.
She has a following. and it is evident why, her honest, perky voice is a fresh change from the boring, old, rusted voices of food critics in big newspapers. Actually, that’s the best thing about her site- she isn’t a food critic! She writes what she enjoys and if she doesn’t enjoy something too much, she says it, but doesn’t go the lenght and breadth to rip anything apart.

I enjoy reading her blog, I thought you would do…

Trend-spotting, a fading trend

October 13th, 2005 • To be filed

Found THIS article while browsing through the net…
I find it very surprising that every article I’ve read on coolhunting/trend spotting talks about the same people, Dee Dee Gordon, Sharon Lee, Jane Buckingham and Irma Zandl..oh and Faith Popcorn.
I’m sure they are good at what they do- but its high time reporters and journalists make a little extra effort and discover other trend-spotters.
At least, thats my opinion..

Master Brands: Vogue in all her glory

October 12th, 2005 • To be filed

Steering your brand the Vogue way

Those who are familair with the history of magazines are probably aware that Vogue reached its current pedastal after the Brit-born Anna WIntour took over the reins of the fledging magazine way back in 1988.
Wintour faces severe mud-slinging, is known to be the scariest woman on earth and creame pies are thrown regularly on her. Heck– she’s even been awarded the epithet of a Prada sporting Devil. And still, it surprised me that her name hasn’t been included among those of major brand-makers, marketers and brand managers. She is, after all, an editor. Probably one of the most powerful editors at that.So what does she have to offer about managing brands and the brand image?

Walter Landor, the brialliant package designer believed that "everything you project into the world, goes toward creating your brand. Each little piece is of equal importance, equal weight, and has to be approporate to the audience it is reaching or the message is trying to promote." Wintour has perfectly  interpreted this lesson under her editing of Vogue, molding it to the fashion-icon status it enjoys today.  
Vogue is notoriously famous for its stick-think editors who are always primed and dressed perfectly. Anna Wintour has made it clear, to her staff and to any aspiring Vogue editor, that she prefers thin women. Why? To maintain the awe and power that is Vogue.
When she was newly hired in 1988, she signed on contracts with A class photographhers like Steven Meisel and Mario Testino. She established contacts with designers and "insisted on exclusives". She even hatched a new breed of editors: fresh, young rich and connected socialites. Wintour dramatically changed the layout, added more features and made it very fashion-savvy. Vogue, and its rarified atmosphere — is known to induce fear and is also known to be worshipped.  Ofcourse, it was not just Wintour’s brand-steering capacities that bought the change. She has a natural flair and talent for fashion and predicating it. Wintour introduced the CDFA awards to encourage new designers. Rumor has it that one mention in Vogue has been known to upp, reeally upp a designer’s sale! Why wouldn’t it?!
in recent news it was noted that Harrod’s owner, Mohamed Al Fayed’s daughter, Camilla Al Fayed, is the recent joinee at Vogue, as an intern currently. But it is not at all surprising, nor should be. Vera Wang served at Vogue too. As did, Plum Skyes and a fictional Carrie Bradshaw. That, is the true essence of Vogue. Something a normal woman like me, like you.. cannot aspire to be. We can only admire it from a distance, admire the glossy sociliates, the rich mavens and their glittering lives. With lust, with envy, with longing.
And it takes one woman, to evict all these feelings in me.
Additionally, Wintour has played a major part in bringing Vogue for Men. Really, Anna Wintour should be the one writing a book about making brands.

Esprit online: shopping experience

October 11th, 2005 • To be filed

Those of you who read my blog know what a sucker I am when it comes to consumer experiences! Finally, so that I may indulge in more investigative, in-depth and detailed reports about customer experiences, I am buying a digital camera- because sometimes, a picture is just worth more than words. and admit it– we are all suckers for great pictures!
And while I am talking about consumer experience,  I’ve had a really good experience shopping online on esprit.com.  Esprit, a great but relatively not very well known company in USA, knows exactly what to do to keep their online shoppers happy.
1)  It’s free shipping for $30 and more. Earlier, it used to be free shipping regardless of how much you buy. But the $30 limit is still better compared to the ridiculous amounts other’s have!
2) It has these cute buttons,

that notify you immediately whether the desired product is available in that size. Now, a lot of sites have this feature, but I like Esprit.com’s the best. It’s bold, colorful and right there in your face!
3) In addition to offering the front look and the back look of a product, the site also offers a detailed look so that the consumers can get a better feel of the texture and the material of the clothing. I just love that about thsi site!!  AND– it offers pictures of every color of a single product ON a model. Unlike other sites that post a shirt in red on a model and then show you only the picture of the shirt in the other available colors.
4) And the cream of all– it has Free Returns. Now I know that there are a few other sites that offer free returns, but beware, there’s always a catch. I had to return a pair od Diesel jeans I bought on Bluefly.com for $56 with free shipping. I returned coz the size didn’t fit me right. After a couple of weeks, I noticed that Bluefly.com had credited me with only $48. Apparently, they claimed that since I didn’t keep the product they had to charge me for shipping: BOTH WAYS!
What a bummer. Needless to say, I haven’t shopped from there again. atleast not yet.

But yes, esprit.com has rarely given me any troubles. the shipping is quick and easy. and the products are great!

Open Source Argument continues

October 11th, 2005 • Marketing/ Advertising

Finally, adage.com has picked up on it! Today’s edition has an excellent piece about the Open-Source Revolution overtaking the consumer-world.  I had once read a very profound statement in a cheap chickflick book. The statement was something like, Information flows freely. I liked the simple truth in it. Earlier, it used to be email lists, forwards and conversations- the simple method of transferring information about products, services or just.. news! Technology mixed with post-modern thinking has given so much power to the consumer. Most of us buy products on referrals from friends or trusted sources. Traditional methods of advertising have lost their power, or their credibility which explains why advertisers are rushing to find other, more invasive methods of advertising. (But that’s for another post..)
In any case, Open source, is here to stay. Advertisers and brand managers are better off adapting and embracing it, rather than shunning it or trying to find alternatives, because honestly, there aren’t any!

The power of the Blogosphere

October 10th, 2005 • 3 comments To be filed

Rashmi Bansal, editor of JAMmag- a college publication  based in India had published a brilliant piece  investigating tall claims made by IIPM, an educational institute run by Arindam Chaudary.  Apparently, IIPM has major moolah to buy full page advertisements and exhalt it’s capacities and abilities to lure students.
Gaurav Sabnis, another popular Indian blogger had linked to the article and added his own views on the matter– as a hundred other bloggers probably did.
However, last week, Sabnis was issued a legal notice from IIPM which is posted on his blog. IIPM threatened him to remove the posts and apologize. When Sabnis declined to remove the posts IIPM called up IBM (Sabnis’s employer) and complained about the matter. When IBM responded that it was Sabnis’s personal blog and IBM could not be held responsible, IIPM threatened to march infront of the IBM offices in Delhi and burn the IBM ThinkPad laptops (IIPM happens to be IBM’s client–like  most other universities and corporatations) given to the students.

To save IBM from being unneccessarily involved in any controversy, Sabnis offered his resignation.

Meanwhile, on Bansal’s blog IIPM students, PR people and management people are posting vile comments, resorting to crude language and issuing threats to Bansal and her magazine JAMmag. Bansal has not deleted a single comment.
I do not know about IIPM but I do have implicit trust in Rashmi, her credibility as a journalist and in her magazine.  IIPM makes dubious claims about its placement, its amenities and even about its professors. Infact- Arindam Chowdri, the 33 year-old IIPM Dean, has still not verified or made available the informaiton about his own education. There is no clear information available about the universities he attended and the year he graduated. How can such important data about the Dean be missing? Infact, he has been honored with degrees from IIPM itself! 
There is no doubt that, Bansal, has uncovered a major fraud.  IIPM can offer no justification about threatening IBM and JAMmag in the manner it adopted. The entire blogosphere has issued an outcry against this defamation and injustice against free speech. 
I had to write about it because even though it is now happening in India– tomorrow, it could be anywhere. Blogs have given everyone who hopes for- the power of free speech.  Big corporations, with their vile tactics and expensive lawyers will try everything to shun the flow of truth- but as bloggers, it is our responsibility to stand up for what we believe in and to extend our suppor to one another.

Please spread the word and extend your support.

Brand Name survey reveals surprising details!

October 7th, 2005 • To be filed

Tipping Sprung, a branding agency based in New York, conducted a brand names survey among some 6000 branding and marketing professionals in July. The results are out and kinda.. startling and surprising..
Out of 300 something people who responded to these questions:

• Best switch to a friendlier corporate name.
  Harmony
  Foods (formerly Golden Stream Quality Foods) was the clear favorite,
  with almost 49% of the votes. Sweetbay Supermarket was first runner-up
  with 29.3%.
• Most energetic performance-beverage name
  was won by High Voltage with 31.8% of the vote, followed by Krank’d and Wired.
  
• Most consumer-friendly pharmaceutical name
  was won handily by Lunesta (38.4%), followed by Inspra (20.9%). Abilify garnered a mere 3.8%.
• Best celebrity fragrance name: 
  Glow from J.Lo was the stand-out favorite with 46.3%, followed by Britney Spears’ Curious (15.8%)
• Least appealing food name:
  Cajun
  Stuff-It Capsules was the overwhelming favorite (41%), followed by
  Lamb’s Supreme AltraMashed (20.1%) and by ImiTaters (17.8%).
• Most evocative name for a flat panel TV
  was won by PureVision from Pioneer with 32.8%, followed by Aquos from Sharp at 28%.

The survey outlined emerging trends in naming brands as well:

• Authenticity and simplicity rule.
  The survey shows that companies are gravitating towards real-word names
  like Cornerstone and Harmony rather than coined or made-up names. This
  is partly due to the ongoing backlash against the dot-com naming era,
  when coined names proliferated. But it also reflects the broader trend
  in the market – consumers’ desire to connect with brands that
  communicate authenticity and simplicity.

• Marketers are stuck in the middle between consumers and lawyers. Consumers generally dislike coined
  names and gravitate toward familiar, real-word names such as Harmony
  and Cornerstone. Savvy marketers are trying to satisfy the needs of
  both audiences by developing coined names that have instantly
  recognizable roots and meaning. One approach is to “embed” a real word
  prominently in the new name, as in the examples of Achieva, Genworth,
  and Scenium. Another approach is to bring two words together to create
  a new name, as in the case of PureVision, SoundDock, or CallVantage.

• As companies get more complicated, so do the names.
  In the past, companies could choose a name such as International
  Business Machines that neatly described what the company did. But this
  is far more difficult with today’s complex corporations and
  technologies. With a resurgence in corporate merger and acquisition
  activity, TippingSprung believes that consumers should brace themselves
  for a new onslaught of coined names.

• Pharmaceutical naming has its own set of rules. Our survey results show that it is possible to create
  consumer-friendly coined names like Lunesta and Aldaran in the
  pharmaceutical category. But as new guidelines for direct-to-consumer
  advertising come into effect, we may see a return to names that
  communicate strength and efficacy and are targeted more to physicians.
   

I thought this was very interesting. First I thought that instead of surveying within the industry, the company should have sent out these survey’s to normal, consumers. But I’m not sure how big a difference it would have made, considering even the professionals inthe industry are consumers!

Check out the entire release here. I think you can request for the entire survey on the website.

Honda makes special accomodation for pets

October 5th, 2005 • To be filed

Today’s WSJ has an article discussing how Honda motors have conceptualized a new car designed especially for the needs of dog owners in Japan.

"The glove compartment converts into a carriage for a dog the size of a dachshund. For bigger pooches, the second three seat row changes into a holding pen. Floors are paneled instead of carpeted."

Apparently, Honda also plans to introduce car accessories for pet dogs that include pet carriers and pet cargo covers.  Not so suprising that Honda is competing against a bunch of other businesses– all trying to tap into the $9 billion market for pets in Japan.

Speaking for myself- I don’t own a car yet but I have grand plans for when I finally buy one. I intend to have little hide-way places under the seats where I can stash extra clothes, shoes, some books, music and maybe sweaters (for cold weather)  It helps to have a book  handy when stuck in traffic that moves an inch in an hour. Any car companies concentrating on these needS?

IdeaGeneration Spaces

October 3rd, 2005 • 1 comment To be filed

An article in the August issue of Inc. magazine caught my eye.
Stark old office spaces and strict conference rooms have given way to bright, big airy rooms splashes in color and fun kinder-gardeny things like Hula-hoops, wigs and Play-doh. And if your office doesn’t have the resources to invest in such a space, fear not as there are independant spaces that operatte solely for the purpose of assisting groups in generating ideas by providing them a fun, creative and relaxed atmosphere.
These spaces rent between $850 to $1800 for a day.
Courtesy of Inc. magazine, here is a list of these Idea-generating atmospheres
Catalyst Ranch, Chicago
Creative Change Center, Richmond, Va
Thinkubator, Chicago and Ann Arbor
WorkShop, Louisville
Inspiration Point, Pittsburgh
Sparkspace, Columbus, Ohio

Dress as I-Pod for Halloween

October 3rd, 2005 • To be filed

I-Pod culture immersion in conteporary culture at its peak.