Curious Log

Category: Uncategorized

  • The real eCommerce revolution

    Had an interesting conversation with an investor friend yesterday, who is really active in the start-up/seed stage. We were talking about the many niche plays that are coming up with the well funded steep growth we are witnessing in the ecommerce industry. While there is no doubt, that Indians have started buying/shopping/ordering online and in…

  • India’s Most Trusted Brands 2011

    The today’s list of Most Trusted Brands presents an interesting change. Nokia is the only hardware/electronic brand in the top 10. Surprising because it has been steadily losing market share to Samsung/MicroMax/Android phones and all the chinese brands. 7 out of 10 are CPG brands – Colgate, Luz, Lifebuoy, Dettol, Brittania, Maggi, CloseUp No financial…

  • Enterprise solutions – designing around the customer

    A recent experience with a telecom co. brought back memories from my Credit Card days. A customer issue is raised and gets escalated to the corporate team. The corporate team looks at the data (across systems) and decides to waive certain charges or settle the “issue”. Customer gets a promise from the manager at the…

  • Exciting future for payments

    Had an interesting conversation over the weekend with the office caretaker- a young late 20’s chap who has his wife and kids back home in Nepal. He told me very excitedly how he managed to send across money to them in Nepal through a new option wherein the credit was showing in his Nepalese account…

  • Government housing Vs Low Cost Housing

    The recent budget announcements to provide rebate for low-cost or nano housing started an interesting debate . Some of the people were skeptical of the way such policy measures would be abused. Their key submissions were In most metros one cannot get a “decent” house for under Rs 10L. This itself was very debatable as…

  • Bing Cheating from Google

    The latest in the Search Engine wars has got every one interested – Google has claimed that it has conclusive proof post a sting operation that Bing has been sniffing out Google results and showing them as top-searches, for keywords that have very few possible matches. While the engineers at Google cry foul at this,…

  • Is someone at TRAI listening?

    We might be the world’s most watched and talked about telecom market but come Feb2011, there would be a lot more noise that this industry would make. and all of this because of TRAI’s latest guidelines on NDNC (National Do Not Call) list. While the motivation cannot be questioned (hell, most of us get more…

  • Facebook advertising will not grow too fast too long

    I have been looking at the countless ads & “LikeUs” banners that keep popping up on my Facebook account and I am tempted to feel that all this jubilant rejoice about the advertising/branding power of social networks might just be a temporary phenomenon. I feel that there would be a fatigue soon & think there…

  • The new lows of Indian Journalism

    We have all been torchered by the Breaking News and their younger cousins of the dancing/singing & reality-show fames. For some like me, it meant an almost complete break from the idiot box and I guess thats how I missed this new milestone that our news channels have crossed. Yesterday while flicking the channels I…

  • ABCDJ – what now

    In India, the Telecom Value-Added-Services (VAS) was referred to as the business of ABCDJ – Astro, Bollywood, Cricket, Devotion and Jokes. This was the volume and revenue driver for almost all mobile operators beyond the voice and text revenues and it sure was a significant one (if we include the ringtones and call-back tunes within…

  • Walking the Talk- with the tigers

    Before you read on, please be warned that this a blatant advertisement for a friend who has impressed me with his dedication and passion towards the majestic Tiger. Ritesh – the guy you probably know from our crazy road trip across Rajasthan/Gujarat is committed towards doing his bit for the tigers & committed he surely…

  • German Engineering but definitely Chinese manufacturing

    Todays Times of India (TOI) was a pleasant surprise for most readers. The lucky few were the ones to experience a nice innovation in advertising – something that brought together the print and audio media like never before. A full page Volkswagen ad had a small speaker with a recorded message about the German Engineering…

  • Airtel gets RBI nod for the mwallet

    Today’s announcement is big news for not only the mcommerce folks in the country but also for people in Telecom, Retail and Payments industry. This approval allows Airtel to act as a semi-closed loop operator for pre-paid transactions. The Customers can now deposit upto Rs5000/- with Airtel (not to be clubbed with talktime) and can…

  • Labour strike in China- the new chapter begins

    Business dailies have been covering the current strike at the Honda plant in China where workers have demanded an almost 500 Yuan increase in their monthly wages. Interestingly the workers there have average wages of 1000 Yuan & 2000 Yuan- much higher than the city’s minimum at 920 Yuan.  While labour strike over wages is…

  • The data-wars have begun

    While the whole country was watching the 3G license bidding rounds, Aircel was probably working towards its first data-centric product- Peek. Launched with a lot of noise, Peek is an entry level handset (available for Rs 3999/-) that promises BlackBerry kind of experience- with Push Mail, multiple email id configuration, alert for new messages, scroller…

  • Apples iAds coming soon

    Apple just announced its official foray into mobile ad networks – iAds. This is sure to change a lot of things in the rapidly growing mobile ad industry. Google’s acquisition of AdMob might have given them a headstart in the space but with Apple sitting on a huge consumer base the battle of giants will…

  • Organized retail in residential areas

    The frequent (and usually negative-themed) coverage of the fortunes of most organised retailers has left most wondering as to what really went wrong for most retailers. While I am sure most consultants are making money coz the answers are still unknown, I think the concept of retail outlets in residential areas needs a special focus.…

  • Value of Marketing

    I remember my MBA days when I thought I had made a very smart decision to not take up any marketing courses. I felt as if it was all jargon-wrapped-common-sense. Why sit through classes(& worse exams) for something you can pick up by just keeping the eyes and ears open. And for a long time…