Planning a trip in the web2.0 generation

September 16th, 2007 • Culture Briefings

I’m taking a short holiday in Puerto Rico in 3 weeks from now and was browsing through the web to learn more about the island. There was no question about not looking for opinions, feedback and suggestions from past travelers and the cardinal rule to any search is – you start at Google.

And lo behold, I stumbled upon this fantastic mini-guide (a downloadable pdf) on TripAdvisor site aptly titled  "Puerto Rico highlights to go."   

It’s a gem of a collection of quotes, suggestions and ideas from past travelers – and a great primer for a place I’m only beginning to explore. As I explored the site in further detail, I was pleasantly surprised to find more interesting little tools –all compiled by travelers.

I was able to browse through quick lists prepared by travelers, look through their un-prettified, unvarnished and very real photographs of the island and get a great feel for the hotels and restaurants that have received good reviews.

By providing users with bite-sized information, downloadable guides and real time visuals, TripAdvisor totally warmed me
up to the place. Next, was checking out for any available videos on Turnhere.  No luck there, just a  little short film sponsored by Intercontinental Hotels. So we moved on to Travelistic and woah! I got more than my fill of Puerto Rico videos here!

I also spent a good 30 minutes browsing through photographs tagged Puerto Rico on Flickr. 

And then finally, spending some time downloading the right music thanks to tablettunes.com – to get into the mood on the flight to the islands. woah

Finally, I logged on to the AmEx  members website, used my travel miles and booked my flight and the rental car. I suppose the hotel can wait for a bit.

I wonder, I wonder — how the role of a travel agent will evolve in 5 years? Will they be putting together such multi-media guides from over the web? Not a bad idea, eh?

American – Nacirema

September 7th, 2007 • 9 comments Culture Briefings

Ironically enough, I left India on 15th August — it’s independence day. This year, I almost forgot to celebrate my sixth anniverary and my love affair with America. I’ve been thinking a lot about my place here, my place back in India and whether it is fair to belong to any one place after six years of nomadic experiences. I was having this conversation with Kim, my dear friend and colleague, a few days ago on our way back from work.

I’ve been thinking this for a while you know. Why I have this strong desire to defend America? Why so many of us claim to miss home (whatever that country is..) but never enough to want to return home? Why friends and family not in America are the first to lambast on how the country has no culture, no values?
I’ve been thinking about this and I think I know the answer to this.

We come here to be ourself. Stripped off all the layers ladled upon us by our cultures (in this case, my Indian upbringing) we come here to get to know ourselves. I can be a journalist here, I can be an ad-planner here, I can dream of writing songs for Walt Disney- heck, I could be a custodian if that’s what I wanted. I am allowed to be a misfit, allowed to stay in touch with only the relatives I truly cared about, could fall in love with anyone I wanted and build an uncomplicated, interference-less life with them. And if I don’t like someone or something, I could say – Fuck you. THAT. IS. FREEDOM. Being able to say fuck you.

What outsiders don’t understand is that America’s cultural tapestry has been created by not one, but many histories. Our stories are told by not one, but many voices. And our independence day is celebrated by not one, but many nationalities. And that’s saying something. (Where else have you seen Punjabis, Koreans, Chinese come together to celerbate any nation’s indepdence day?)

As much pride as I take in the fact that I am an Indian — I take in being an American. And yes, I will have my passpost soon enough to validate it 110%.

Culture or commerce?

September 7th, 2007 • Culture Briefings

I have been unable to devote any real time to publishing my thoughts here since the last few months. Work, among other things, has certainly kept me busy and mind-numbed. I’ve been thinking a lot about my home in India as well. So I wanted to take some time today to spill these various bits and pieces floating around in my head.

I grew up in a lovely row-house where my grandparents first found shelter after escaping the India-Pakistan separation in the 1947. It’s a tiny house, very middle-class by most Bombay standards. If you’ve been to an Indian middle-class household, you will know that the concept of personal space, doesn’t really exisit. My sister and I shared a bunk bed until I was 12-13 — we moved on beyond bunk beds but they were still, the fold-able kinds. The kinds that turned into a sofa during the day. Space was precious. I didn’t have my own room until after I graduated college. And it was no bother. Thats what I was used to.

Anyways, going back to the house I grew up in….
In the six years since I’ve made another home in America, the real-estate around my humble town has suddenly shot up through the sky. A five-star hotel, a major express highway, a growing industry — appeared (what feels like) overnight. My home and those familiar surrondings of 17 years felt a little strange with each visit. And since the last 2 years or so the little row-houses have become a point of interest for builders. They want to build shiny new ‘towers’ for the row-house residents – more space, a hike in the real estate value and ofcourse, the added privilege that comes with belonging to a high-rise.

Now well understanding the polticking and bureaucracy — I do not know if the row-houses will ever be torn down in lieu of the promised paradise. But what I do know and what I have been wistfully observing since these discussions ensued is the hunger, the thirst, the determination these row-house families (including my parents) have to get ‘towers’ built. Every meeting with a new builder sparkles with hope and possibilities and everytime they are dashed, someone walks in with a new lead, a new direction….a new contact.
These are people who once resisted change and held on to their guts. Now, they fight, they scramble and they try to win, for that one leg up the social ladder.

It is a natural state of being, I know. And there are rationalizations behind this once instance as well. But the way I look at it — it is clear in my eyes. The Indian middle-class, are not satisfied with staying exactly there. As an outsider who was once an intimate insider, I watch this energy and this drive with fascination, with eyes wide open. Its like my countrymen, are entering their youth. Vital, pulsating and not willing to take no for an answer anymore.

Rich Intelligence

September 4th, 2007 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

As a strategic business move to attract affluent advertisers (alcohol, cars, watches and other high-end products) The Economist is relaunching a  quarterly magazine called Intelligent Life. The new, magazine with fresh design that teters dangerously on a fashionesque glossy mag look/feel also has a content-rich website at More Intelligent Life.

News outlets and blogs are comparing Economist’s move with Intelligent Life to Tyler Brule’s content-rich book for intelligent readers, Monocle.

Ad buyers say magazines like Intelligent Life and Monocle reach an important audience: wealthy people, particularly men, who like expensive goods and dislike fashion magazines, preferring newspapers and current-affairs magazines like the Economist. – WSJ

What’s disturbing to me about developing magazine concepts to gain advertising, is that their first priority is not their readers or audiences. The magazine industry is unfortunately a balancing act but without compelling content, it’s just another glossy. Tyler Brule set the subscription and issue price for Moncole as high as $10 per issue to ensure, in a way, that the magazine wasn’t being run by their advertisers. He also believes that "Intelligent Life was relaunched to grab advertising that would have otherwise gone to Monocle. "For us to be on the newsstand alone, it could be a scary thing for [the Economist Group]," Mr. Brûlé says. Although Economist maintains that Moncole played no part in their decision.

It’s baffling to me that a magazine would launch with a real point-of-view and a clear distinction in the marketplace. I’m still rooting for Brule’s Moncole and hoping that intent will survive the moolah.

Targetted beauty

August 28th, 2007 • Culture Briefings

A woman’s vanity case and her medicine cabinet are crowded places – with fancy tubes and bottles of all shapes and sizes clamouring for her attention.  The American women spends an average of of $12K to $15K a year on beauty products and beauty treatments and with teh plethora of products flooding the market, there’s always room for something niche, something targetted, something overlooked. Signal micro-segmented and highly targetted beauty products. Targetted by demographics, lifestyles and climates among other segments.

Mama Mio, one such new company, produces a highly targetted line of products to a highly targetted group of women: pregnant women and recent moms.  I think Mama Mio has very cleverly created products for specific needs of pregnant women (itchy skin, body aches, toning etc) (It helps that they don’t take themselves too seriously. Their irreverent product names (that are also achingly obvious) Boob Tube, the Tummy Toner and Stretch Mark Minimizer set the tone for the brand.)

I cant gaurantee whether the product works, but the brand will atleast be picked up from the department store counter and make it’s way to the famed medicine cabinet- of that, I am sure.

Buy em’ some maps please

August 28th, 2007 • 3 comments Culture Briefings, On my mind...

I’m a cultural misfit almost anywhere I am so I don’t sterotype, but instances like these make it very very hard to not follow the herd. 4Million + views in over 3 days.

Why journalists should stick to what they know best.

July 25th, 2007 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

"Journalist Suzanne Boyd combined Caribbean warmth and Canadian cool with European chic and Afican boldness to make her apartment a home like no other."

- Oprah AT HOME, Summer 2007 Issue

(Should’ve thrown in a couple more continents….)

Moments in Digital History

July 19th, 2007 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

Members of a facebook ramp up and bring the community together to save a flailing print magazine. How ironic is that that the magazine is called Business 2.0 ?

Over 600 members strong (including me) the group is still rallying on to save the print magazine that Time Inc, it’s parent company hopes to dissolve.

I enjoy the magazine and would hate to see it bite the dust. But this effort will mark a milestone in the history of digital — a social network as a lifeline to save the fate of a print entity.

Monocle – here to stay.

July 18th, 2007 • Culture Briefings

The magazine industry, like most other traditional media entities has been a flux for the past few years. While there has been much debate and talk around the magazine industry on it’s deathbed, it hasn’t stopped hundreds of intreprid entrepreneurs and enthusiasts to launch new magazines every single year. For some, it’s a brand extension, another jewel in the crown and for some… it’s passion. In both cases, it is crystal clear.

Monocle, a nascent magazine only a few issues old, created a ton of buzz when it launched primarily because of it’s illustrious founder, Tyler Brule – the visionary and brilliant editor behind Britain’s famous WallPaper* magazine. The 200 some pages of this magazine brim with sparkling wit and editorial insight – a sharp voice in a culture that is so ridden with glossy-fancy magazines with celebrity-like editors at the helm and socialites on staff. Monocle’s simple vision, "A briefing on Global affairs, business, culture and design," and craftfully designed book – gives every issue a collectible status. It’s a book you want to hold on to. The smartest attribute about Monocle is that it does not underestimate the intelligence of it’s readers. Also, that it does not employ an iota of ethnocentrism. It writes about young politicos in Azerbaijan and the ornamental fish business in Japan and puts together a list of world’s most liveable cities (that do not include New York or London) and it does so because it expects it’s readers to be (rightfully so) interested in this perspective. The internet, if anything, has only made us more intelligent and more curious to become more intelligent.

I do not know it’s circulation or it’s subscription list – and at 75Euros/ year – it is an expensive subscription and even an expensive purchase at $10/issue. It’s website – complements the book instead of cross-selling subscriptions and advertisers. The advertisors, thankfully respect the magazine’s environemnt and it’s international audience. And this strategy interests me because this magazine has no pretenses about who it’s audience is.

Most mistakes that new magazines (and existing!)  make is that they try to create a commerical product that will appeal to the masses — and thus to advertisers. (Conde Nast’s Portfolio for example) Assuming that a magazine’s audience appreciates glossy paper, expensive photo-shoots and star celebrities is perhaps the single-most insult to the readers intelligence. Ofcourse certain magazines are flourishing and will continue to do so, but perhaps if they understood that the reader is willing to pay a premium for a fresh voice not mired down in efforts to appease advertisers — we’d have more magazines like Monocle.

Magazines don’t lose advertisers – they lose their audience. And magazines don’t die – they burn out trying to bring new advertisers when they perhaps should be wooing their audiences. Moncole, I hope, will continue to keep the balance and it’s audiences I hope will recognize this and award it with their loyalty.

The definitive example that….

July 16th, 2007 • Culture Briefings

lies on the intersection of culture and commerce. (and how!)

Ofcourse I pre-ordered. But something tells me, I will be rushing to the Walnut Street B&N at midnight to buy a copy….

L.A has standard

July 6th, 2007 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

I’m in Los Angeles for a business trip and am staying at The Standard . I wanted to try a new hotel even though I am a Starwood preferred member which would have earned me some pretty sweet points towards a free stay at a Starwood property had I stayed at one. But this hotel was a fresh change.

The rooms are gorgeous – simple, stylish and very well designed but what surprised me the most was their attention to tiny details like (pictured above) providing an L.A city guide, Motrin painkiller, Mr Bubbles bubble bath (for kiddies) Kodak One time use camera (for the ones like me), a Volupsa candle (to set the mood for a romantic date….) and condoms (for after!) with the regular mini-bar items.
Oh and even a mixtape CD.

Ofcourse, the hotel charges obscene rates for using any of the items from the mini-bar, but I thought including non-food items such as these was a nice touch. (Although I have no use for any of these right now… it’s nice to know that the management anticipates it’s audience’s needs (and in some cases, desires!)

That said, charging for internet is ghastly! Whether it’s the Westin or the Standard.

(Excuse the quality and styling of the photograph above. Taken using the Macbook photobooth. Glad it came handy!)

Experience Westin online

May 18th, 2007 • 5 comments Culture Briefings

I have been reading A new brand world, by Scott Bedbury. Bedbury was the creative mind at Nike and Starbucks before starting his own brand consultancy, BrandStream. His book is the proponent of the idea of brand environmentalism. Very simply put, (in Bedbury’s words) Everything matters- – even the restrooms. If he were to re-write the book, I am confident he would have a seperate chapter on the digital experience of a brand. Here’s why.

The hospitality industry could learn a thing or two from StarWood Hotels for literally by-hearting the ‘everything matters’ mantra. First, Westin (owned by Starwood) introduced the heavenly bed and the heavenly crib — then they pioneered the white tea scent at their Westin hotels.. more recently, they launched www.findrenewal.com – a renewal council of six lifestyle experts that in addition to sharing their tips online will form an exclsuive, in-room TV channel for Westin hotels. The first thought that occured to me was – wow, why didn’t any hotel think of this before! The website will work both as an extension to the in-room entertainment and as a welcoming micro-site to introduce potential Westin customers to the Westin experience.

What makes this website even better, is that my super cool friends at Electric Artists developed this site. Electric Artists were the same guys who bravely launched Aloft hotels in SecondLife before launching it in real life.

I’m not too sure how strong and original the content on the site will be – the council certainly have the ‘celebrity’ quality to them. But since the site just launched, my hunch is they will adapt to how their audiences respond.

It tires me when in every single book about branding, identity and brand experience – Starbucks is used as a case-study. I suppose Westin gives these branding experts a new case to ponder over?!

PS- If you haven’t ready Scott Bedbury’s book, ‘A new brand world ‘ — do it now!

UPDATE:   I am not surprised at all to learn this but turns out Scott Bedbury actually helped rebrand all five of the Starwood brands just 2 years ago!!  It’s just there you know….Starwoods has it.. that ‘it’ factor… that ‘bedbury’ touch.

Swap or sell?

May 18th, 2007 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

Yesterday I dropped in at the student exhibition at University of the Arts. A bunch of book-making students had their wares for display and for sale. A particularly engaging letter-press card set by a female student caught my eye and I asked her if she owned her own business. She shrugged and as though the idea was totally alien to her, said, ‘ I’m still in school. I’m a junior." The quality and sophistication of her work suggested otherwise or maybe I was just feeling so awed by the creative energy in the room and the intellectual breadth of these students, that I was unable to differentiate between professional and student work.

As I looked through other student’s displays, my ears caught a lingering piece of conversation the junior was having with her next-table neighbor. It went something like this,

Next Door neighbour: so did you sell anything?

Junior female: A little… but I made tons of REALLLY COOOOOOL swaps.

Next door neighbour: Yes!! Swaps are wayy coooler.

I was sort of bemused to hear this. In such a creatively charged atmosphere — there was little to none importance given to the monetary aspect of the product. What got these students more excited were the swaps they made with one another. A poster in exchange for a set of cards — or a letterpressed book in exchange for a framed photograph. The swapstories go on.

I wondered why ’swaps’ were cooler than ‘being paid’ for your work. And that’s when it occured to me, swapping is such a strong two-way exchange of likeminded synergies. Whether it is a mutual relationship that two brands agree upon without exchanging any money, or two budding entrepreneurs swapping their skills to move further — I found this phenomena way more exciting than a simple commerical transaction. When no money exchanges hands – parties are more involved in each other’s works and the feeling of ‘connected-ness’ is definitely more pronounced.

In other news, University of the Arts has created The Center for Creative Economy to focus on driving creative growth in Philadephia and beyond. On May 22nd (Tuesday) the visionary economist and professor Richard Florida will be speaking at the University about his concept. I will be there and would love to meet up if any of you plan on being there.

A brand extension for soda manufacturer

May 7th, 2007 • Culture Briefings

In no time, fashion and beauty magazines will be buzzing about the new line of ‘innovative’ skincare from PepsiCo’s Aquafina brand.

Beauty and cosmetics are affordable luxury (last year the luxury market in USA grew by almost 27%) and Aquafina was extremely smart to have recognized this opportunity to allign their brand meaningfully with this particular extension. Also, it’s not like Aquafina developed the line of beauty products in-house — they are licsensed from a third-party which not only saved Aquafina the R&D efforts and money behind launching a beauty brand, but will also rake in revenues from royalties. The beauty product line titled, Aquafina Advanced Hydration RX includes the typical products (cleasners, toners, creams, masks ) and a couple in the anti-aging category.

It doesn’t amaze me that packaged and bottled water has become a multi-million dollar industry. I think Aquafina is certainly cashing in on it’s percieved brand value and the continous growth expected in this industry. I love Aquafina — the water, the design of the bottle, the cool associated with the brand. And what gives– I might even sample the skincare when it launches. (but knowing it was licsensed makes me less willing to do so)

In other news — I wrote about drinkable skincare a while ago — and now even the major players like Coca Cola and L’Oreal are joining the bandwagon. Word is, the two giants are teaming up to launch Lumae, a Borba-like beverage that is designed to benefit the skin.

Luxury in the skies

May 4th, 2007 • 2 comments Culture Briefings

Jet Airways, an Indian air-line is perhaps among the first to launch a mini-suite that features an 83 inch bed and mini-office of sorts in a private enclosed area. A return flight from London to Delhi can cost as much as 4500 pounds (almost $8500). These mini-suites come with a 23 inch flat screen TV, Dom Perignon and Krug are on the menu and food is served on expensive Bernardaud porcelain.

Jet Airways have always claimed to be India’s finest airline and although I have a very brief one-time experience of traveling in a Jet Airways flight, it is an experience that I still remember vividly and positively. India’s booming economy and the gradual rise of international companies in India, the introduction of high-end mini-suites is just the beginning. As the line between India’s middle class and the upper classes blurs even more, there will be a swifter graduation of such luxury services, experiences and products.

Seed-embedded packaging

March 21st, 2007 • Culture Briefings

Last year, I featured an interview with Joshua Onysko of Pangea Organics. Pangea Organics is one of the fastest growing organic companies in North America. Since my interview, the company has released it’s latest innovation: seeds-embedded packaging.

Pangea’s seed-embedded packaging provides it’s customers with one more reason to use their products. Just soak the package and plant it in soil- – within days, lush herbs like sweet basil and amaranth will sprout out of the package. A brilliant idea to convert what would usually be a waste into a live experience.

I hope more companies follow suit.

Hot off the press!

March 8th, 2007 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

This just in!

Dreamworks will be making a film on the child-hood favorite journalist-cum-detective TinTin. The movie is expected to hit the theaters in 2 years with plans of making more movies, depending on how well the first movie does.

I briefly was enarmored by TinTin’s technicolor-adventure filled world, but soon moved on to Enid Blyton characters. Although now  some 18 odd years later, I can’t wait to see how TinTin unfolds on the silver screen.

Beauty & Monopoly

March 8th, 2007 • 3 comments Culture Briefings

  Last November,  household classic Monopoly partnered with Sephora to release a Monopoly-Sephora Edition. According to this news report, players can go to jain for a bad hair day, move forward to go for a manicure and pay fines for beauty faux-pas! Like the classic, this version allows you to claim territory over Sephora stores by placing Sephora bags on the property.

"Lending their names to the whimsical game are some of the industry’s top beauty brands. There’s Stila in Gloss Gardens, Make Up For Ever on Lipstick Lane, Nars on Cheek Street, Murad at Cleanser Crossing, and Bliss on Lotion Avenue."

Media Consumption Meme

March 5th, 2007 • 2 comments Culture Briefings

Anastasia of YPulse has a very interesting Meme on media consumption that was intiatiated by Marianne Richmond of Blogher. Here’s my input:

Web: I read news from WSJ, NYT and BBC. I rely on blogs like PSFK, Springwise and thecoolhunter for news that interest me the most. I also subscribe to fantastic newsletters like VSL, JCReport, TrendCentral, Marketing Daily, AdAge, and Iconowatch. Other favorites are Ypulse and WWD. I also like to stay updated about news in India and sadly, I only trust blogs like youthcurry.com and soniafalerio.blogspot.com with this information. I also maintain an active Del.icio.us feed. My favorite site on the web has to be amazon.com (for obvious reasons pertaining to spending one’s hard earned cash on items that may have no useful purpose except to make me happy for about 10 seconds)

Communication: I live on my Yahoo! mail. I know gmail offers free 2MB but I still pay the yearly $20 for more space on my Yahoo! mail. I am on Yahoo messenger, AOL (I don’t use it much) MSN and Skype. I actively communiate via facebook, orkut and sometimes linkedin. I’m on facebook because my college friends are on it, Orkut because my school and college friends from India are on it. I cannot possibly maintain any more. It’s tough as it is keeping up with two. It was a conscious decision to not buy a Blackberry or any phone that would allow me access to email. And I intend to prolong this situation until it absolutely demands for it.

Music: I’m afraid, it’s usually just what’s on my Ipod. I don’t seek out new music, but I rely on my friends to recommend new music. I’m a huge fan of soundtracks and am likely to dload music from TV shows and movies via itunes.com

TV: Does youtube count as TV or web? I actively watch LOST, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty and Grey’s Anatomy. I LOVE Apprentice but it clashes with DH so I had to make a choice! I’m addicted to Food Network.  Esp. Iron Chef. I also loved Top Chef on Bravo and intend to go back to the show once the new season begins. My guilty pleasure: watching Indian shows on musicnmovies.com

Movies: I watch a LOT of movies. Esp. independant cinema. The last movie I watched was Pan’s Labyrinth. I highly recommend it. My favorite theater are the Ritz in Philadelphia.

Magazines: I subscribe to Fast Company, Wired, Lucky, Zink (because I write for them) and most recent addition is the Economist. I read BusinessWeek, Entrepreneur and Inc online. But I buy one new magazine every month or so. I highly recommend Universal News and Magazines in NYC to check out hard-to-find magazines and foreign titles. When in Philly, I rely on used bookstores or Barnes and Noble.

Books: My attention span has decreased, I think because I’m so used to consuming media in short bytes. But I try to read one book a month. The last book I read was Everything is Illuminated- Jonathan Safran ( I recommend it but the epoynmous movie is very nice too)

Newspaper: WSJ. And yes, I still enjoy reading it on paper.

Ouch, now I feel silly. Feel free to join in and leave a link below if you do!

Indian Newspaper industry

March 4th, 2007 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

I recently subscribed to the Economist (I’m a fan of the magazine, but just never got around to subscribing) and an article titled "Let 1000 titles bloom" about the Indian newspaper industry caught my eyes. The paragraph below is an extract from the same article.

Competition is forcing once-staid publications to spice up their content. Mumbai’s Midday tabloid has introduced a bikini-clad version of Britain’s topless “page-three girls”, called the “Midday
mate”. Most broadsheets offer similar enticements in colourful
“entertainment” sections full of Bollywood stars. – The Economist, Feb
15, 2007

Mumbai’s Midday is a tabloid I grew up with. The bikini-clad version of Britain’s topless page-three girls called the Midday Mate is NOT a result of the competition nor is it a recent feature. The Midday Mate is a part of India’s pop. culture that kids in the 90’s grew up with and it continues (I think) to be a popular fixture of the tabloid.

The Economist wrongly points out that this feature was introduced to beat competition. When Midday introduced this feature, only a handful of newspapers existed in Mumbai/Bombay. It is only in the last 2-4 years has there been such an influx of new entrants in the field. When I was last in Bombay in 2005, the billboards and every available adv. space in the city was saturated with ads from DNA, The Hindustan Times and Mumbai Mirror– three newspapers that launched around the same time in 2005.
I agree with the article that competition is intense but I wish it had been more thorough in researching the article.

Also, I’m surprised that unlike Time and Business Week, The Economist does not allow for reader comments.

To read about the state of media (TV & newspapers) I strongly recommend Rashmi Bansal’s blog, Youth Curry.

Re-inventing life… or atleast the boardgame

February 26th, 2007 • 2 comments Culture Briefings

My circle of friends and I have ‘evovled’ (notice how I use the word evolved) from going clubbin’ and bar-hopping to spending Saturday nights inside our apartments hunched excitedly over boardgames.

Our current favorites are Cranium (only we’ve played it so many times now that we know all answers to the questions), Risk and Clue. So a few weeks back when my sister bought The Game of Life to add to our to our Saturday nights, it got me thinking how simplistic the strategy was. All you need to do to win is make the most money?

Imagine my surprise this morning when I read in WSJ that Hasbro is all set to introduce a revised version of the Game of Life in June 2007. A version in which- money, is not the ultimate measure for success. This version titled, The Game of Life: Twists and Turns, was revised to ‘reflect consumer’s wishes for a more balanced life,’ according to WSJ.

In this game, the board is spilt into four areas Learn It, (education)  Live It, (adventures)  Love It (family)  and Earn It ( the moolah!) My guess is that the players can pick the area they want to play in and collect life points.The winner with the most number of ‘life points’ wins the game. Also gone is the old cardboard spinner and in with the new electronic spinner. Add to that a debit card for each player and now you’re talking 2010!

What a wonderful example of how a brand has responded to the culutral shift and it’s audiences. Hasbro is also releasing a slew of it’s games in Express versions — that can be enjoyed in 20 minutes. What I like most aboud board games is that they last so long But I suppose shorter versions wouldn’t hurt.

Zoodango – offline social networking

February 21st, 2007 • Culture Briefings, Social Media

Zoodango (what a catchy name!) is a natural iteration of a social networking site — instead of keeping your relationships online, it allows for offline connections.

Like any other social networking site, you build a profile that includes professional and lifestyle information (a cross between linkedin.com and facebook.com)  Users can then request in person meetings at events or public venues like Starbucks with the other members on the network.

I don’t think their techonology is revolutionary. Neither can I make claims about the longetivity of this site. But the reason I profile it here is to highlight a new learning curve in social media – we are slowly moving beyong simply forging friendships and/or connections online to strengthing them in the offline world.

Not that this never happened before this site was launched — people have always connected to each other via blogs and other social sites, but I think the launch of a site that exclusively promote face-to-face meetings gives this non-traditional (for some!) means of meeting people some sort of legitmacy. It is more of a cultural statement than a cool spotting.

Trivia – The founder/CEO of zoodango.com is current on the L.A Apprentice.

Democratizing education

February 15th, 2007 • 7 comments Culture Briefings, Social Media

It’s been two years since I graduated college and there couldn’t have been a more perfect time for me to learn about this.

I read about the OpenCourseWare Consortium in today’s Wall Street Journal. More than 100 universities and other organizations worldwide have joined hands in creating a body of open coursework available to public with the idea of sharing knowledge and democratizing education. (it also works as a great recruiting tool for these universities, but I choose to look at the non-commerical aspects of this fusion of education and technology)

In USA, universities like MIT, Yale, University of Notre Dame, UC Berkeley, Tufts and Stanford among others have opened a diverse offering of classes (ranging from esoteric topics like Modern Theoretical Physics to timely topics dealign with American cyberculture) for the public.

The value of education is non-negotiable. And when world-class institutions such as these make a select few courses available to everyone, it forms a telling story of how our culture has evolved and how traditional hierarchies are suddenly shiftless.

I’m thrilled! It’s only after graduating college that I’ve appreciated the anticipation of sitting in a classroom not knowing what I was going to discover. With Opensourceware, I will be able to enjoy learning again. More so because this time around, it doesn’t involve homework, midterms or grades!

Absolute Read

February 14th, 2007 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

There’s must reading and then there’s absolute-reads. Very Short List falls into this category. I’ve been recieving this newsletter since their launch and I just realized how much I look forward to reading this spot-on newsletter that delivers exactly what it promises: one cultural gem each weekday. Be it unknown feature films or documentaries, TV shows, novels, magazine, websites or a cool youtube video that has been making rounds of the savvy nyloners.

I rely on VSL to ensure a continuing cultural education – you shoud too.

PocketChange NYC

February 9th, 2007 • Culture Briefings

PocketChange is yet another fashionable, sexy-savvy, inner-circle newsletter to have launched in New York. PocketChange covers New York city’s most expensive goods and services. From the most expensive tuna roll to baked potato and brazilian wax to personal shopper.

I think the concept is very interesting and with the growing luxury/aspirational market, the newsletter has tremendous potential.

Check out their scandalous promotional ad in New York magazine. On Wednesday night, PocketChange NYC held a speed-dating session ONLY for extremely wealthy men and extremely hot women.

High-schoolish, but spot on.

Big words do not charm

February 6th, 2007 • 5 comments Culture Briefings, Marketing/ Advertising

They don’t. Really. I am sick of reading on the About Us section of most new companies words like, "We provide…solutions..integrated… ignite your brand….revolutionary…embracing…platforms.. etc etc"

No. You do not do that to poor unassuming visitors who are just on your website to learn more about you or to understand what it is you really do. All that ’slapped to impressed’ jargon only ends up confusing highly ordinary folks like me who do not care if you are revolutionary or not. (because frankly if you were, you wouldn’t try so hard to impress your visitors)

I especially detest it when new companies have short abbreviated terms for their supposedly-groundbreaking solution-oriented systems, or whatever the heck that is. Why not use plain, simple, layman’s english to convey what it is that you exactly do?

I’ve helped many friends write copy for their websites or brochures – but my explanation that people want simplicity and not difficult, intelligent-sounding words has fallen on deaf ears. "It looks professional," is the repsonse I always end up getting.

Ofcourse. Time-tested formulas that have somehow become the norm are now lumped into the professional category. What is professional, in my opinion, is you making it easy for your potential customer to understand what you do, what you offer.

For example, if you are a marketing company- My only interest is in knowing that your methods will increase my sales. I do not care about the copyrighted, patented formula or your solution-oriented ideology. It hurts my head to read information that takes the highway instead of the shortcut to doing it’s job.

This approach of simplicity works best with the recent flux of internet sites in the social media area that have created a major traffic jam on the internet. Cool technologies are awesome, but when it takes you more than 3 lines to explain what it is, there is something inherently wrong with either your technology or your portrayal of it.

I’d love to give you examples but if you read my blog, you already have come across such websites and are nodding your head in approval as you read this.

Smart Tip of the Day # If you are starting your own company or a website or anything else — keep your copy succint, short and simple. Instill humor, when you can or atleast warmth. Everyone knows robots don’t write.

The Pentagram Papers

January 23rd, 2007 • Culture Briefings

Designers are the smartest people, I think. Even smarter than MBA grads. Their approach to problem-solving is more intuitive and experiential. And I love that.

Which brings me to my latest discovery. (Thanks to VSL) Pentagram, the iconographic design-firm that has lended it’s genious to numerous campaigns and brand identities (some you may be familiar with, some you may not), has just released a previously in-house, treasure trove of design-papers aptly titled, "The Pentagram Papers."

Published since 1975, The Pentagram Papers are a  collection of whimiscal and inspiring images that highlight a certain point of view in design. For example, check out this collection of Tin Tabernacles and other buildings for inspiration:

The debate for cultured diamonds

January 17th, 2007 • 7 comments Culture Briefings

Recently an article in Wall Street journal caught my eye. Titled Gem Warfare (subscription only), the article discusses lab-produced diamonds and the De Beer’s struggle to exert control over the growing industry.

My community (Gujarati) is reknowned in India for belonging to the diamond trade. Several extended family members have been in this trade for decades, losing their eyesight over years to understand the intricacies of the stone.

I first heard about Gemesis, the first company to make real quality gems in a lab, in 2004 when I was helping a friend in the diamond industry set up his new e-commerce site. Infact, Wired magazine was quicker to pick up this story back in 2003 when companies like Gemesis were still in their nascent stages. Now, I do not claim to be an expert on the industry but I suppose being a woman, I have a perspective on diamonds. (Blame De Beers for making me an unofficial expert on diamonds)

The more recent WSJ article picks up on several other companies that have since mastered the art and technique of producing real quality diamonds in a lab. Apollo Diamonds uses thin diamond wafers or a diamond ’seed’ to grow real-quality diamonds using a process called Chemical Vapor Deposition. Gemesis on the other hand, created diamonds by simulating the high pressure+ high temperature environment needed for natural diamonds- in a lab.

The crux of the article and the newly shaping industry revolves around it’s battle with De Beers to rid the consumers of the notion that these lab-produced diamonds are not real.  De Beers has polarized it’s efforts and is lobbying the lawmakers to avoid these companies from using the word, ‘cultured.’ It is De Beers’ opinion that lab-produced diamonds are synthetic and not real.  (I’m not sure, so are test-tube babies not real babies? Cultured pearls not real pearls?)

De Beers has also ramped up it’s famous Diamond is Forever campaign and it now educates visitors about why a real diamond is special, citing that it takes a billion years for a real diamond to form. The company’s relectuance to accept a natural evolution of the industry is explained by the fact that De Beers controls and owns about 45% of the diamond market. Man-made diamonds, according to the WSJ article are about 15% less expensive than real diamonds but the Wired article claims that they are even less expensive. 

I am certain that the market is not ready to accept and embrace these man-made diamonds right now, but with companies that have slogans like ‘Diamonds are for everyone," the market is bound to change it’s perception about these diamonds. What makes a diamond, a diamond, really? In 2007, my answer is it’s rarity. But come 2017, my answer will be: it’s chemical composition. And I believe that will be the answer of the general populace. The price may become more affordable once the rarity of diamonds is replaced with abundance.

Think about it. Companies like De Beers and other esteemed jewelers have invested so much money over the years in giving diamond it’s august status that every woman desires it. Every man strives to save just enough so he can buy his girl a diamond. These companies have created the desire. And the demand. And lab-produced cultured diamonds will grow to meet this desire and demand. Middle-class households, college grads, and everyoen else will be able to afford diamonds. What a world will that be? We are already living in an era where elite designer ware is mass-marketed, designer clothes are mass-produced and designer-lives are lived. What’s to stop us from experiencing this luxury when it comes to jewels?

Because they are devoid of ethical and environmental concerns (as opposed to mined diamonds) and no one was harmed in the process, celebs like Terrence Howard are also promoting these diamonds and gravitating towards the ’cause’ in adopting cultured diamonds. And once the celebrity angle kicks in, the publicity kicks in and before we know it, these real man-made diamonds will be just as credible as the mined diamonds.

The WSJ article points out that the cultured pearl’s industry killed the natural pearl industry. Sure, but that is evolution. Of an industry, of a mindset, of a culture. And my guess is, we are on the threshold of the evolution of the diamond industry.

I’m sure we will hear more about this debate in the coming years. And what an interesting debate it will be!

Philadelphia – a rising creative class?

January 2nd, 2007 • 2 comments Culture Briefings

When I was an undergraduate student in Philadelphia, I didn’t pay much attention to the political and economic aspects of the city because at the back of my mind, I always knew I was moving to New York. International students like me relate most to cosmopolitan cities like New York, London etc.  These cities speak to our displaced mentalities on a more visceral level. And they attract other people, like us. I remember when I started job-hunting, it didn’t even occur to me that Philadelphia might have interesting opportunities for me. New York was the be all and end all.

And like I always knew, I did move to New York after graduation. Only to make a move back to Philadelphia within a year for my career.

But this time, it’s different. This time, I’m genuinely interested in Philadelphia. If cities belonged to a high-school, Philadelphia would be New York’s strongest competitor: atleast geographically! It’s almost like we live in NY’s shadow. I love NY, don’t get me wrong. But I’m not jaded anymore. New York is not the be all and end all, like I believed once. Yes, so Sex and the City and Independence Day happens in New York and terrorists attack NY to cripple the nation and all cool people live in NY and stories float around about making-it-in-new york. But that’s it’s essence. And fortunately for New York, it’s not concealed or left for people to discover. With other cities, like Philadelphia, it may take time and maybe effort to really discover it’s essence.

It’s a conundrum that faces not just Philadelphia. We are home to some of the best colleges in the country and obviously attracts smart students. But why then do they move after graduating? Is it the jobs, the action, the nightlife, the money? What is it that does not help the city retain it’s talent?

While it’s not NY, I think we have a fairly impressive list of companies HQed around here. I am puzzled. Is it the people? Will more companies come to Philly if we attracted NY-like people? Or will NY-like people come to Philly if we attract more companies (more jobs) ?

I started reading Richard Florida’s book, The Rise of the Creative Class," yesterday to help me understand this situation better. The basis of his work is how creative people are leading the current cultural and economic shift. He also makes an interesting argument: for cities to prosper, they should attract (and retain) the creatives.

I’m curious. What role can I play in assiting Philly to become the one more cultural and economic hub like other American and international cities?

PS- In case you didn’t know, Philadelphia will soon become the nation’s first completely wireless major city.

Fortune Innovation Forum Part 5

December 6th, 2006 • 1 comment Culture Briefings, Social Media

Note: This is PART 5 of a multi-series on the Fortune Innovation Forum I was lucky to attend last week.

I actually wanted to mention this earlier –  Lexus, one of the sponsors gave each attendee a tiny USB drive and Adobe provided typed notes of the concurrent sessions that were going on all day. It was an extremely utilitarian sponsor gift. Attendees saved the Adobe PDFed notes of the sessions they weren’t able to attend on their USB drives. At events such as this, sponsors often overwhelm the audience with useless gifts like keychains and mugs and bags and whatnot. The USB drives were a refreshing change.

Another highlight of the conference was the Innovator’s Studio I mentioned earlier. I spent a few hours here -it was worth missing the main conference to stay a little longer at the studio! The studio was meant to overwhelm and bombard our stimuli. Andy Stefanovich of Play urged attendees to be disruptive and allow for confusion to reveal their identities at the studio. The focus of the studio was larger than enabling you to think innovatively for your company and organization – the studio first wanted you to express your individual identity and then that of your company’s.

Executives in crisp business suits picked up brushes dripping with paints and painted, they played games, looked into apartments across the street via powerful binoculars and even checked out live human beings from a libary to chat with. What struck me most about the studio was that every PLAY employee was smiling and genuinely happy. I loved it that it was so easy to chat with them and have a conversation. It was also much easier to strike up conversations with other attendees in this environment — a relaxing, easy atmosphere is perhaps a solution to innovation!?

I’m trying to interview Andy for Being My Boss – trust me, you’d want to spend a day just talking with him. His introductory speech, although brief, was the most uplifting speech I heard at the conference. I will try to conduct a podcast with him – he deserves to he heard, not just read.

***

Fortune Innovation Forum – Part 4

December 6th, 2006 • Comments Off Culture Briefings, Social Media

Note: This is PART 4 of a multi-series on the Fortune Innovation Forum I was lucky to attend last week. Click here for Part 1 , PART 2 and PART 3.

Stanely Bing, Fortune magazine’s technology columnist had a light-hearted, almost comedic presentation on the downfalls of innovation. His 15-minute speech sparkled with humor and one-liners that were hard to forget.

The Big idea according to Bing was that Innovation has both merits and demerits. And often the demerits are underplayed. Innovation can induce strong liabilities like dysfunction, idiocy and change for the sake of it. He touched upon the importance of a slow, gradual change touched with a hint of practicality.

• Innovation is nice but so is knowing where your desk is located.
• Only people with bad expense accounts are in favor of constant innovation
• Innovation has it’s place -somewhere around  San Fransisco
• Innovations lead to organizations run by children and idotic crazies.
• Innovation organizatons are over-run by consultants, but consultants always come with body-bags.

Agreed?

Fortune Innovation Forum – Part 3

December 6th, 2006 • Comments Off Culture Briefings, Social Media

Note: This is PART 3 of a multi-series on the Fortune Innovation Forum I was lucky at attend last week. Click here for Part 1 and PART 2

One of the highlights of the conference was the panel discussion on Bringing the Next Net to Mass Market. The panel was an eclectic mix of old and new media: Steve Berkowitz, Online Services Group, Microsoft, Bradley Horowitz, Product Strategy of Yahoo! Inc, Kevin Rose, Founder of Digg.com and Om Malik of GigaOm

The next net, according to Malik is Mobile technology and Broadband. He couldn’t have said it any clearly. Mobile tech has picked up in Asia and is slowly gaining more precedence in Europe. We’ve been a tad bit slow but serious innovations in the mobile arena will dictate the next few years in the communication industry. Mobile companies should not have the kind of monopoly over phones and plans as they currently exert in America. My hope is that will change as competition stifens and new entrants level the field.

Horowitz of Yahoo! made an interesting point (which hadn’t occured to be before) about how Yahoo! Groups were essentially a less-glamourous form of social networking and how Yahoo! acquiered companies del.ici.ous and Flickr are in a way an extension of the Yahoo! Groups. He spoke briefly about the new tool Yahoo! Answers and made a point how Yahoo! still attracts abt 100M visitors a day as oppossed to 80M/day by Myspace.

Kevin of Digg.com touched upon how his success with digg.com was mostly serendipitious. Word-of-mouth and blogs played a big role in spreading the word and making digg.com popular in the circles. I was a little disappointed with Kevin, I hoped he would share more from the perspective of a young, new media agent.

Berkowitz of Microsoft said something that I can’t remember now because most of it sounded like a press release and a press plug for Microsoft. Also, I am not a fan of the company so I might not have paid enough attention.

Burning Question of the Day:

For Horowitz of Yahoo! – How is that with all these excellent ideas for the future of internet and amazing acquisitions and other innovations you still charge $20/year for 2GB of Yahoo! Email when Gmail offers it for free?

Lesson of the day:

Innovation happens at Ground Zero and does not have to be groundbreaking. Often, true innovation lies in simplifying things.

Fortune Innovation Conference – Part 2

December 6th, 2006 • Comments Off Culture Briefings, Social Media

This is PART 2 of a multi-series on the Fortune Innovation Forum I attended last week in New York. Click here for PART 1.

I was looking forward to attending “Customer Created Content Companies” workshop to be led by Om Malik of GigaOm. Several workshops were held concurrently and they were booked to capacity. I managed to squeeze in and find some standing room but I realized within the first 15 minutes that I shouldn’t have bothered. About half the attendees left the room within the first 10 minutes and I stayed put for another 5 before exiting.

Om Malik severely underestimated the intelligence of his audiences. He began the workshop by asking his audiences if they had heard of companies like Threadless (Yes) JPEG (Yes) Slim Devices (Yes) About two people in the room had heard about these companies which have successfully harnessed the creativity of their customers. Malik’s big idea for the workshop was that you should compensate your audiences and share the profits. He gave many examples on how other companies were involving their customers but he failed to highlight the most important aspect of consumer created content. That just because everyone is doing it, doesn’t mean your company should join the bandwagon. It may just not make sense for you to do it!

I think if busy managers and executives are taking time off from and paying $2K for a conference, they aren’t looking for examples on how other people have achieved the next big idea. They are looking for construtive feedback on how they can achieve the same in their industries, withstanding the limitations and parameters the industry offers.

Also Malik reiterated the importance of paying your customers and sharing profits. I’d encourage everyone to think of it more as rewarding and appreciating your customers. Design Sponge, a popular design blogger has built a community of readers with her blog that now routinely meet in various cities once a month to discuss their businesses. This is an amazing example of involving your customers (in this case) readers creatively. Design Sponge isn’t paying these women to do that! It’s not about paying and sharing your profits, usually when you create a company or a website that resonates with your readers, they will WANT to be involved. And this doesn’t happen artificially. I was put off by how easy Malik made it sound.

Later that day in a panel however, Malik’s inputs about the future of innovation were eloquent and hit the bullseye. I wondered why his brilliance didn’t shine through in his workshop.

Fortune Innovation Forum 2006- Part 1 (Gary Hamel)

December 6th, 2006 • 3 comments Culture Briefings, Social Media

Note: This is Part 1 of series of posts on the Fortune Innovation Forum I was lucky to attend last week in New York. I attended the conference with hopes of gleaning more insight about innovation and how it can be applied to entrepreneurship.

The primary focus of the conference was sustaining innovation within management. Gary Hamel, who is known for coining the word/concept core competence (?!) opened the first day with a 90 or so minute presentation on continous management innovation. His presentation failed to impress me – while is was most certainly provocative, it lacked a certain element of realism. It was one of those ideas that looks great on paper but incredibly difficult to translate in real-life. His assumption that every employee within a company thinks of his/her job as a career threw me off. His presentation was peppered with examples of how other companies (Google, Grameen Bank, Toyota, Whole Foods, Visa) have successfully managed to instill innovation in their company culture but it lacked solidity. Haven’t we read enough articles about Google and Whole Foods in Fast Company and Fortune?

In all fairness to Hamel, he did inspire the staid, white-collar, internet-illiterate executives that crowded the auditorium. He is a powerful orator and often hearing someone convincingly tell you what you might have already read, is more effective. Perhaps it’s why people pay such obscene amounts to attend such conferences?

I’m not a big fan of concepts and fancy words and diagrams and processes that these consultants come up with and invariably become famous for. That’s the problem with academics and consultants I think. Hamel reminds me of that saying, Those who can, do it. Those you can’t, teach.

The Big IDEA according to Hamel:

• Dynamic shifts come from management innovation
• He presented examples of companies that have no hierarchy and companies (Google, W.L Gore) that allow their companies a percentage of time to work on their pet projcets. He pushed the idea that these innovative management practices should be adopted by other companies as well.
• Leadership has to be about how people can serve their goals while simultaneously serving the company goals. (This makes sense, I wouldn’t want to work for a company where I was a mere pawn of the machine)
• A survey he conducted showed at LSE showed that people in general believe that it takes a crisis to change the company. He encouraged companies to change that paradigm and think differently. Work against the grail.
• I loved the analogy he drew between innovations and cities. Cities are factories for social innovation, he said. They are diverse and there’s something new everyday. The chance for serendipity doesn’t diminish.
• Future starts at the fringe (Remember what Joshua Onysko of Pangea Organics said about the future and the fringe?)

Your thoughts?

Give us our daily bread

November 15th, 2006 • Culture Briefings

We watched SuperSize me and thought we knew it all. Our Daily Bread, a documentary film about cold industrial salt mines and slaughter houses reminds us just how much we (blissfully?) do not know. From it’s website,

"To the rhythm of conveyor belts and immense machines, the film looks without commenting into the places where food is produced in Europe: monumental spaces, surreal landscapes and bizarre sounds – a cool, industrial environment which leaves little space for individualism."

Watch trailers here. (via)

Two new magazines

November 13th, 2006 • 3 comments Culture Briefings

I had the pleasure of meeting Larry Smith this weekend. He recently founded Smith Mag, an interesting zine centered around teh idea "Everyone has a Story." He picked the name Smith because it is one of the most common last names in the country – I like this magazine. It’s refreshing particularly because it truly exercises the philosophy that anyone, read anyone has a good story to tell. Be it a pizza guy or a half-drunk lonely customer at a diner. A print version will be launched early 07.

One of my the first Editor’s I worked under, Doree Shafrir, is now an associate editor at Gawker and has founded her own magazine, The Crier. High-brow, literary and print — this magazine has piqued my interest. It’s also faintly remniscent of the New Yorker. The magazine describes itself as a small magazine for big ideas. Worth checking out.

(Another zine worth checking out, Found )

Update: Teen mags

November 13th, 2006 • Culture Briefings

I was speaking on the new media panel at the "Breaking into magazines," conference this weekend in Philadephia. Keynote speaker Keith Clinkscale of now defunct, Vangaurd Media, gave an imposing speech about the heyday of Black magazines in the 90s. When the floor opened for questions, I asked him about the movement in the teen magazines sector and he had a very interesting answer.

Clinkscales, a publishing veteran and current SVP of ESPN publications, thinks that the print will not die anytime soon although it will not exisit by itself alone. When I pressed further about the demise of major teen titles this year, he pointed out to a larger social trend that could be blamed for the demise of teen mags.

Who are our teen stars today? It’s Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Hilary Duff — and do any of them dress like teenagers? No. they all dress like grown women. Teenagers don’t want to be associated with the word, "teenager" anymore. These girls are growing fast — and they wouldn’t be caught dead reading Teen Vogue or Seventeen. They are reading InStyle and Lucky and Glamour. Teen titles have failed because they failed to respond to the changing market needs, not because teenage girls don’t read print anymore.

Interesting fodder for the mind.

More articles: Atoosa and her relationship with her readers

It’s the faith…brands are more about relationship than gimmicks

November 10th, 2006 • 1 comment Culture Briefings, Marketing/ Advertising, Social Media

Atoosa Rubenstein’s (Editor-in-Chief of Seventeen magazine)recent resignation has caused quite a stir in the media industry. At age 26, she was the founding editor of CosmoGirl. After bringing the infant magazine to new heights (in advertising and revenue) Hearst moved her to reinvigorate the flailing Seventeen magazine. The first issue that was released under Atoosa’s editorial direction revived the magazine’s 5 year slump in sales and since then, Seventeen’s ad sales and circulation has dwarfed all other teen titles.

In my opinion, the reason Seventeen survived and ruled this multi-million dollar market was for two reasons 1) It’s historical association with teenage girls 2) Atoosa Rubenstein. Atoosa crafted the book to speak to the language of the audience it caters to. Atoosa of Iranian descent made sure Seventeen presented a diverse look and represented all skin colors and body-types. This distinction alone won many accolades. In another timely move, Atoosa did away with the monthly Editors Letter and chose to instead speak with her audiences via a MySpace blog. She struck a chord with these girls by often putting herself in the lien of fire by introducing a dialogue on religion in the magazine’s pages. She also endeared herself to her girls, (as she calls them) by including them in her personal moments, by sharing photographs from her vacation, photographs from when she was a not-so-pretty teenager and even photos from when she had put on weight. She also made the magazine incredibly price-friendly — because she understood teenage girls don’t buy $400 shoes and $1100 dresses. The success of Seventeen magazine, in my opinion, was largely because of the relationship Atoosa cultivated with her audience. Ofcourse but even magazines are a business and leaders often make bad decisions. In Atoosa’s case, the terrible Ms. Seventeen reality show, a la Trump’s Apprentice.

Irrespective of the hits and misses, Atoosa’s declaration to step down to start her own website for teens, youth consultancy and a book is a definitive nail in the coffin of teen magazines as we know it. It takes years to cultivate a real relationship with teenage girls — even if the Atoosa’s successor employs similar tactics, the teen girls will have moved on to digital zines leaving no time for the successor to forge a relationship with them. I think the first issue under the new editor’s leadership will speak to my claims.

With the close of Elle Girl and Teen People, this year has been somewhat tumultous and defining for the teen magazine industry. Both magazines have shifted online in an effort to speak with their audiences via a medium most comfortable to them. CondeNast is secretly working on it’s little teen empire. Atoosa is starting her own — and I think just because of the level of trust and the open relationship she shares with this fickle demographic, her website might just be the best. CondeNast, can do all they want, but unless they bring a real personality and a relationship to the mix, teenagers will view them as just another corporate site.

You could have it all — the jazziest site, expensive rewards, the works, but unless you take the time to know your customers and forge a relationship with them you’ll never earn their trust.

Honestly, sometimes I think people give too much importance to phrases and complex theroies on branding and marketing. I don’t think there’s a simpler science than marketing. You can give it as many fancy names as you want, but it comes down to really knowing your customers and pleasing them not your advertisers or your investors. Granted, this is a simplistic statement, but the essence of it cannot be diminished or argued upon. Building a relationship, that’s what its all about. And with the launch of Atoosa’s mega teen website and her youth consultancy, we’ll see just how right or wrong I am.

Pink, loud and revolutionary

November 3rd, 2006 • Culture Briefings

If the 70’s were about bell bottom pants, the BeeGees, Saturday Night Fever and counter culture, this decade, will most certainly be associated with Sophia Coppola among other cultural icons. The reviews for Marie Antoinette have been mostly in the extremes. But by linking 17 century France to 1980’s pop culture, Coppola makes a statement. Thanks to her treatment of Marie Antoinette, history as it is viewed and understood, has just been given a new lens to be looked at. The sartorial excesses and dessert delights make for good eye-candy. However, does the blurry representation of other worldly concerns that plague Marie Antoinette’s story allude that we, 21st century nyloners care little about political warfare ? That our excesses have translated into pride?

The cultural impact of this decade is easily dismissed mostly because the unlikely icons that emerged have not translated yet into any substanial importance. Paris Hilton, voyeriusm,  I-pods, LOST and bloggers. I do not criticize Coppola’s interpreation of Marie Antoinette. I only voice out loud the ramifications, if any, this representation will have on the popular culture psyche. Merely, a ripple in the pool…

Relics of our decade

November 3rd, 2006 • Culture Briefings

Who wants to take a plastic L’LO home? My Scene Goes Hollywood: Lindsay Lohan and Limo (I’m not joking) Available at Amazon and Sears. Barbie’s retirement isn’t far off. The new generation of dolls and playtoys are begining to derive inspiration and income from creating 3-d lives of celebrities.

Any takers?

An informed rant

November 1st, 2006 • 3 comments Culture Briefings, Social Media

I am very vary of new businesses that think they are the "it." Most are tweaks (albeit, sometimes very good tweaks) on already existing technologies and businesses. And a lot are total replicates. Esp. in the tech sector. Some 80% of tech. entrepreneurs I speak with and know are more interested in selling their creation to one of the big mommas namely Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and such. The payoff may no doubt by huge, but really, do we need another search engine for vidoes or yet another user-created community website?

I recieve about two invitations a day to join a variety of social networks. With features like poke and pinch,I think I’ll pass. The recent news about Pop Sugar Blog network recieving $5Million dollars in funding gives me a queasy feeling: the return of the bubble? I am yet to read major news about any of these social networks and VC-pumped blog networks bringing in any real source of revenue. (exceptions allowed)

We live in a world where people from elite institutes become famous for coining phrases and people achieve the guru status for building measly so-called communities. After flickr, I don’t remember the last time a new business idea or technology took my breath away. I think what most companies need is not a marketing guru or another great idea – they need a critic.  Someone who’s not afraid to call a spade, a spade.  And someone who, for heavens sake, can tell them that the world doesn’t need another social network, another gossip blog, oh and another rant.

Missed Desperate Housewives last night? Watch it online today!

October 9th, 2006 • 2 comments Culture Briefings

By offering free episodes of it’s most popular showsABC has probably made the best decision a TV network can in this day and age. Last season, I downloaded episodes of LOST from itunes for $1.99 per episode. Now, I can watch most of my fave ABC shows online for free, with only four 30 seconds long sponsored advertisements. Two minutes of advertising in about 40 minutes of programming is absolutely acceptable to me. If this became the norm, I’d forgo TIVO anyday.

There is much debate centered around ABC’s decision to broadcast shows online. Some call it an experiment, some think this is the future of television. I checked out the site traffic to spot any irregularities. The Alexa chart displays the usual waxing and waning of a program cycle so it is difficult to say if the online videos have bought in extra traffic. Until we have solid figures from ABC and a word from their advertisers, lets just relish this new developement!

The new voice for the youth

October 2nd, 2006 • 7 comments Culture Briefings

Today is Gandhi Jayanti — Gandhiji’s  137th birthday. Growing up in India, Oct 2 was a reason for celebration. We recited the national anthem on the school grounds and had one-act plays and song recitals usually depicting the freedom struggle and Gandhi’s philosophy. The motive was noble, but the impact was zero. My friends and I looked forward to holidays like these because it meant a half-day from school, exemption from homeworks or (if it the holiday fell on a Saturday) no Physical Training class. It also meant we would be allowed to dress in our choice of clothes instead of the school uniform. And as far as I remember, even my teenaged cousins remained quite unaffected by such nationalistic sentiments and instead of showing up late for college as they usually did, they just skipped college on such days. It was a generational attitude.

But yesterday I was talking to a friend in India who mentioned that this year people were actually quite excited Gandhi Jayanti.  Why ? Read on.

‘Lage Raho MunnaBhai," a bollywood movie about a one-time crook who resorts to the Gandhian philosophy to win his ladylove has been responsible for this newfound interest in Gandhiji and the Gandhian philosophies. In the movie, the protagonist, Munna Bhai, appears on a radio program where he inspires his listeners to observe the path of truth, non-violence and tolerance. He invties his listeners to call in and promises to solve their problem by Gandhigiri. (Gandhigiri is a conjoint of two words: Gandhi + Giri, where "giri" reflects highest, top-notch or zenith) So when a sucidal son who lost his father’s meagre savings in the stock market calls in, Munna Bhai, pushes him to confess the truth to his father. Another time, a young woman was about to meet a prospective husband and wondered how she would gauge him on the basis of one meeting. In each instance, Munna Bhai provides a solution to their problems with grace and clarity that Gandhiji would have used.

The movie worked because Munna Bhai spoke the language that this generation understands: casual, vernacular and sparkling with wit and comedy. What the history textbooks failed to convey, Munna Bhai with his troop of comical goons did it in a way that was convincing and endearing. And like most Bollywood movies, this was generoulsy sprinkled with playful songs and a happy ending.

Bollywood movies have profoundly influened the Indian populace ever since the very begining. If you ask me, I have a bollywood movie I associate with every significant period of my life and my assumption is, most others do as well. Bollywood has not only inspired trends and fads, (Kajol’s sarees from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Anu Agarwal’s ‘Ashiqui’ ribbons) but also controversies and riots. But the charm of Gandhigiri attriuted to Munna Bhai, is probably one of the first trends to have (IMHO) a positive impact on the nation’s psyche. As Taran Adarsh, movie critic puts it, "“Hardcore moral preaching doesn’t sell, but if you package it with entertainment, it works."

Students in colleges over Bombay had organized quiz competitions based on Gandhiji.

"Members of the Council told DNA that in order to make the competition more interesting, they have decided to divide it into two parts. “The first part will observe participants answering questions on Gandhi’s life and his work. The second part would be more exciting. Taking cue from the film, Lage Raho Munnabhai, the judges will ask the participants to solve a particular problem through non-violence and truth,” said Kulbhushan Yadav, USC deputy general secretary. – DNA

Another group of young students have founded Gandhigiri.org. Flooding with optimism, they ask ‘If Munna Bhai can, why can’t we do gandhigiri ?"  Here’s a post by a forum member:

Ofcourse critics question the sudden optimism and wonder if it’s only a passing fad.  The movie (also!) probably provided ample fodder for political cartoonists for months. I can’t tell you either if this is only a trend or if it’s here to stay — but on a personal front, this movie did give me a different lens to look at the world with. This powerful of an impact can and should only be applauded. These are good times for India — and movies like these, only make it better. (The movie is tax-free now, btw)

And perhaps, students aren’t as disenchanted with Oct 2 celebrations as I was a decade or so ago.

What were they thinking?

July 17th, 2006 • 11 comments Culture Briefings

This mouth-shaped urinal at a Dutch Mc Donalds was removed after an american toursit made a complain to the head-office in America.

Seriously — what was Mr. McDee thinking with this move? Was this supposed to amuse kids or fuel fire to absurd adult fantasies?!

(Art makes sense in the right context. I probably wouldn’t be offended or think otherwise of these urinals at an art-gallery or even a fun-themed restaurant. But good old Mc Donalds? !)

Cute Inc.

July 17th, 2006 • 2 comments Culture Briefings

I adore Calvin and Hobbes, I think Hello Kitty is an icon and I splurge on grotesque to cute-looking toys from Kidrobot. I thought I was unique in my pursuit of all things iconic and cute — but I’m not alone. The youth in Japan are busy enrolling in Cute,Inc, trying to grab a piece of the cuteness before the trend turns into a fad, cheaply translated by street hawkers. The article suggests that the notion of beauty and beautiful in Japan has become "cute" as opposted to the western, "sexy."
Perhaps this sentence sums up the essence of the quest for cute in Japan:

"Cute is that exclamation from the soul of Japan’s younger generation," much like "soul" or "La Raza," Onishi said.

Food for thought? Hello Kitty inspired credit cards to lure younger kids into becoming financially-savvy (or just spending more money?) Cell-phone charms, toys, and other gadgets now offer a touch of cute, instead of cool.

Birthday Strategies and ML Clinic- Week 2.5

June 29th, 2006 • 1 comment Culture Briefings

I turned 23 recently and instead of a deluge of phone-calls, I was inudated by a deluge of alerts in my mailbox from facebook and orkut. Long lost friends, recent friends, blogger friends and old friends walled my facebook or scrapped me in orkut wishing me. Ofcourse, I recieved a few phone calls. But no paper cards and a few e-cards.

Oh Baskin Robbins sent me a coupon for a free icecream. Victoria’s Secret sent me another for $10 off and Mexx sent me another for $15 off a purchase of $50. A couple others too that I can’t recall.
I will admit, I kinda liked it I recieved these birthday offers/ even though I knew I was their commerical whore for the day.

It was fantastic though. The thing is — growing old is fun but birthday’s aren’t always remembered that often and gifts are almost inexistent once you hit 21+. (I think!) So what if it’s the retailers who remember to send you a little something? It’s still super cool.

I rather liked being celebrated on orkut and facebook. What the hell– I even had a little MSN Chat party for my birthday complete with cake and balloon symbols.

***
I’m into week 3 of avoiding social networking and keeping my interaction with the internet to a minimum and honestly– it’s really not working. I’m questioning the point behind this silly exercise? It doesn’t help if I don’t network online; because my friends are still leading blindingly fast lives online. Besides, I make atleast one new virtual friend every week. Either I’m emailing people or they are emailing me. Essentially by cutting off my internet time, I also cut off my opportunity to meet cool new people. So once again, someone remind me why I’m doing this?

I’m hestiant to continue further. As you see, I don’t have many insights about what I *did* outdoors and *how* I’m enjoying the summer. My updates and insight instead reflect on how it feels to be virtually cut off and why I miss it.

Point to ponder?

Moving-Life Clinic- Week 1

June 19th, 2006 • 7 comments Culture Briefings

Disastrous. Week 1 was a disaster.

So I didn’t buy the Blackberry but end up subscribing to the montlhy service to surf the internet/email  on my cell phone. And peer pressure pushed me into joining orkut, but I’m not sure how long I will last there. I’ve been thinking about this — most friends I went to college with are very active online on facebook, myspace and now orkut. But my group of close friends fall in the age group of 24 – 29 and this demographic is not incredibly active when it comes to social networks.

Mainly because Web 2.0 rose to it’s current pedestal only in the last couple of years — and most of these sites were launched after the 24 – 29 crop graduated college and post-college degrees in some cases. Inadvertantly, they were left out of this wave. Although they don’t particularly feel left out. They are definitely active bloggers, podcasters and vloggers. 

My goal was to cut down my online networking and indulge in physical, non-virtual networking. Instead, I cut down on blogging, desipunditing and other postings expected of me. Not a good move. I did however, find time to walk the streets and take in the vitality of life. I spent my time smelling the various fragrances of organic soap at Whole Foods, reading in the park, and walking instead of taking the bus/cabs.

I’m heading onto Week 2. Let’s see what I discover now. Did any of you try ? How was it like for you?

Join me at the moving-life clinic

June 12th, 2006 • 7 comments Culture Briefings

I am linked in, facebooked, tagged, tubed, digg-ed, myspaced and more. I’m on networks to make friends, meet like minded business professionals, share photographs and videos and even my blogcrawls. It takes me atleast two hours to comb through my email each morning and then another few hours to check new messages, comments, photographs and events on all my networks. And I am a mere 22 year old just doing her thing, working hard, playing harder… being young, socially connected and just, happy. Just trying to be plugged in. Even if it requires several hours of my time every day.

But these days, (unfortunately, after my Dad pointed out how I was always glued to my computer) I’ve been examining my online behaviour a tad too closely. I could be ashamed to admit that I enjoy looking at random strangers photographs and sometimes (although I kinda gave up reading personal blogs a few months ago) I even enjoy eveasdropping on incredibly intimate details laid out on personal blogs. But I’m not really ashamed because we are all sailing in the same boat.

But what amazes me is how do we find time to stay tuned into our virtual life and still be vitally alive in our non-virtual lives? I refrain the use of word, ‘real’ because our non-virtual lives have become just as real for us. I recently switched my mobile carriers and was tempted to the point of surrendering into buying a BlackBerry service. But I’ve seen friends that own Blackberries/Treo’s get addicted to the device, so much so that dinner conversations are accompanied by a scary dosage of messagaing back and forth with a potential love interest or a client or the boss! Eyes darting constantly towards the Blackberry to spot any new emails, shifty eyed conversations… and the worst, "talk talk, I’m listening. just have to check this email."

You’ve got to draw the line somewhere, no? I drew the line with declining the free Blackberry. (ok maybe I do regret it a little!)

Web 2.0 has given young entrepreneurs and rich investment bankers an opportunity to start a easy web-based startup with little funds. There are about a hundred sites out there cashing in on the idea of social networking- with a tweak here and a tweak there, the premise always a constant. Innovation is great– but I’m afraid multi-tasking and compartmentalized brains only go so far. If we roughly spend 3-4 hours a day being "plugged in," how do we find time for other stuff? Y’know, throwing frisbees in the park, cycling, or just reading at the bookstore. (Not the library. Libraries are eew.) And somewhere in there we squeeze in about 9-10 hours of work and 6-7 hours of sleep.

Damn, we are busy people!

I don’t know if its good or bad– but summer’s almost here and I’ve decided to make a conscious effort to do other stuff that’s doesn’t have anything to do with the internet. Its an experiment of sorts- think of it as checking yourself into themoving-life clinic where you force yourself to spend atleast weekends without any access to the internet. Maybe that’s stretching it a little to far- but you know just exerting self-restrain with your virtual escapades.

(Moving life because I’m tired of sitting on my ass with the computer on my lap. And I just like the idea of bringing some actual movement in my life without the aid of any virtual networks/blogs/)

I am going to try it and will document the experience here every Monday. Join me if you will and share in your experiences. (Ironic no? we talk about self-restrain and gather online to discuss it!)

I think a saturation point is drawing closer when it comes to social networks– I may have already hit it, but the lusty exclusivity of being ‘plugged in’ is far too heady for me to give up. And I dont think I can ever give it up– but I think it needs moderation and I want to check in.

I’m putting this thought out there. Do you feel like I do? Do you think you have just as many virtual obligations as your non-virtual obligations?

More so, have you hit your saturation level?

Join me in my real-life clinic. Just fun.. no rules, no laws. You know your online/virtual behaviour better, check yourself in. Find other ways to stay plugged in….and lets share our stories, yeah?

I’ll post all your comments here into the post.

Welcome aboard!

New-age travel

May 23rd, 2006 • 2 comments Culture Briefings

Turn Here is only a glimpse into how we will plan oru future trips. (Via Springwise )
Turnhere.com is somewhere between a travel channel, a travel guide and a website. The website offers 2-5 minute long films on cool places globally — meant to give you a glimpse into the local life, style and essence of the city you *may* consider visiting or vacationing at.

It is not meant to replace travel guides — it simply fills the space between the formentioned mediums that seem to be our only resources for planning a trip. We are picky consumers and we are used to having information on our fingertips (even if that means slightly controlling the element of surprise) This was in the coming, no?

I love the idea. Although I’m not planning a trip for a while, I’m lovin’ simply browsing through the videos. (They are of superior quality!)

Check it out and tell me what you think!

Digital seperation

May 23rd, 2006 • 8 comments Culture Briefings

When I was a teenager, I was fascinated by a 14-year old Norweigan girl’s diary. (When I was a teenager, www.diaryland.com was the rage) My teenage life was smooth, my parents weren’t control freaks, I wasn’t on drugs and was comfortable in my skin. Bottomline: there wasn’t any drama in my life and so I was inexplicably attracted to this girl’s drama. A punkster, she always used colors to describe how she was feeling. When she felt, “sea-green,” it meant she felt calm. It was rare, I think, but when she felt that color – it made me happy for her. She wrote about ice, blood and sleeping pills and I was drawn into a world I could distantly observe. Her life was about mangled relationships, cold parenting and fierce independence. All I could think of when I read her blog was: how could a 14 year old be so fucked up in her head and still write so beautifully? I had a crush on her, I was in awe of her.

We became friends too and would routinely sign each other’s guestbooks. And just like I had found her, I lost her. First she locked her diary and then I think she simply stopped writing there. I’m not sure what happened to her – I didn’t even know her real name. But the whole experience was weird.

If I were a teenager today and happened to lose touch with someone -I wouldn’t worry about it because sooner or later that person would surface on facebook.com or myspace.com or any of the gazillion other social networking sites. Infact, in the last two years itself I’ve been contacted by and have contacted several people I had lost touch of. It was eerie– and kinda of reassuring. There are people I still look for today, whom I routinely google. They have’t turned up yet, but I know our paths will cross again in the near future. Digitally, life has gone out of control! There is no need to lug around phone books or save email addresss in your mailbox. In a year or so, it will be so easy to find people that all you’ll have to do is google their name and the first result will be their phone number and email address with their professional details.

I will be surprised if that doesn’t happen.

But what remains untold – will I still recognize the 14-year old girl from Oslo?