Twitter has brought about a radical change in this social networking era. Saying “What you are doing?” in just 140 characters is fun for both those who write and those who read.
As it is rightly said “Brevity is the soul of wit”.
It sure has helped our loud, screeching television journalists in many ways. Their job has just boiled down to going online, reading tweets and making masala news out of it. No efforts in editing also as it is just quote and unquote. The celebrity tweeple who have helped Indian News rooms tremendously are Mr.Shashi Tharoor,Chetan Bhagat and Sania Mirza. “Tharoor Tweets” is the most common headline you can find flashing on TV screens. With all the political implication this has, the day is not far when the IT act will have a separate clause on politicians using SNS.
Initially, I gave all this a benefit of the doubt saying Indians are not yet ready to have an intelligent minister like Mr.Tharoor who wants his people to know what is going on in the Government. But of late, I see a clear trend in the usage of Twitter by celebrities, particularly Indian celebrities. It is a hard fact to digest but it is true that Indians get flattered easily and have absolutely no idea of where to draw the line. This can be proved with all the tweets the celebrities post.
Take the recent Lalit Modi – Tharoor Twitter war for instance.Modi posted the stake of the shareholders on Twitter knowing fully well that Mr.Tharoor is active on Twitter and that it will create chaos. Undoubtedly,it led to people asking the obvious question of “Does Tharoor have a stake in the Cochin team”? This is important for everyone to know. But the route Modi adopted is no good. It has put everyone in soup including Modi.
Nowwww do you get the connection?? The Indian mentality of speaking a lot and not knowing where to stop has led to this situation where every celebrity posts and later thinks…
“Ab pachtaye hoth kya,jab twitteriya chug gayi khet”
Disclaimer : Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani :)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
BELIEVE IN THE BEST
Celebrity endorsements is what every marketing or advertising magazine is talking about these days.It is important for marketers and companies to understand that just because you get my favorite hero to endorse for a product,I will not buy it.Remember! Customer is the KING who can think and is not dumb.
I personally believe that a celebrity must be roped in only if the product/ brand/idea has a resemblance in some form with the celebrity.Thank god! I am not the only one who thinks so,some sensible marketers also do.Just as I say this,some classic examples come flashing in memory.There is no denying to the fact that celebrities have done considerable benefit to brands and added to the image of the brand.But don't pull it too far.
Take for instance the new WHEEL ad where Salman Khan(Ya!!!! for a detergent) and Prachi Desai(Eh....who??!!!) are a couple and they start singing and dancing(supposed to be romantic) and to add to the a(d)gony is the background romantic score.Even if all that is accepted,why will anyone believe that Salman Khan uses WHEEL?Or in some way resembles WHEEL?
The other blunder I came across on TV recently was the NEW Vaseline Men's range where Shahid Kapoor,who is actually a good choice considering his 'not so bad looks' and celebrity status.Even the tagline "Be prepared" is a well thought line.But all is not good when he says "Main use karta hun Vaseline Men".
Oh Really? Kabse? Last week when it was launched? It would be believable if he said that he likes the new product for some benefits or anything.
People might like fictional novels and SciFi movies but when it comes to advertisements,one needs to believe in the product and the advertisement.Celebrities can surely play a big role in it but only when a consumer believes that there is some sense in relating the product to the celebrity.I am also ready to see Rakhi Sawant in the Shaadi.com ad but not Salman Khan in WHEEL detergent.
While surfing news channels,I came across a clipping which said "Manmohan Singh makes primary education compulsory".At the end of the clip was the PM himself saying "I believe education is very important.I am,what I am because of the education I got". Now that is what I am talking about.A celebrity endorsement so powerful that everyone wants to buy into it. Many of us have the mail with the resume of Dr.Manmohan Singh in our mail boxes.We know he is counted among the most intelligent and educated PMs of India and so when he says primary education is important,we have no choice but believe.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Cross my heart and promise......
Though it is called the Hippocratic Oath, I bet it must be an amazing feeling to cross your heart and swear by the God of health that you will love and serve your patients. Doctors, I think have the most gifted job on earth. The job of selling “hope”. I feel its important that each one of us is bound by such a promise that we would live to keep up and the world would be so much better.
In this quest of mine, I end up taking oaths on different websites like Incredible India and the most recent one being “Jaago re”. The one against corruption has been irking me since the time I signed in .I wonder why? Is it because I know its difficult to survive without slipping in some money? (“Khilana” in terms of Jaagore.com) or is it because it reminds me of the 3 driving tests that I gave for a mere Learner’s license where they wrote “FAILED” on my paper when I said no to “khilana”(For those who know me, you know I cant fail in a dumb License exam and for those who don’t, FYI....I am not dumb!).Ultimately I got the license but only by giving up and paying one of those guys who stand in the RTO office with a scarf around their neck. That is how you understand and they keep asking you “License kya Madam?”
Things just don’t get done unless you show the “hara note”. My fascination with taking oaths has given me a chance to do my bit to stop corruption. If I don’t get back to this space writing about another dreadful “khilo-ing” experience, think that I have lived up to my expectations.Every "No" counts !
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
POWER is never given,its taken
A concept in Consumer Behavior says, when the source of the message is powerful,the reaction of the receiver is compliance.This is exactly what happened in the class today.Prof Titus, who is known for being "a class apart" spoke about how some gurus pull you into things like "Art of Living" or how a smile can solve all problems.It was a ROFL session for the class.Simply because the source of the information was an amazing Professor whom my friend Yogesh calls "The Champ".
I am spiritually inclined and I strongly believe in few Gurus.Yet I was among those who laughed at how foolish people can get.Though the session in class did not influence me in any way, it was a laughter riot only because I felt that "Ya whats wrong.THIS professor can say it" and I am sure this is the case with many of my classmates who were at the lecture today.So the long and short of the story is that the consumer behavior concept is perfect.Our Professor is such a powerful source that we had to comply.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Mumbai Masala !!!!
Back in engineering,a professor of mine said "Never miss an opportunity to work in Mumbai if you get it,you will relish the experience for the rest of your life".No wonder !!
Its so fresh in my thoughts that I only have to close my eyes to see the Marine drive,the sky rises,the local trains,the sandwich and dabeli stalls,the fantabulous fashion sense and the amazing feeling that you are in MUMBAI.
After knowing Bangalore for so long , the Mumbai jargon was too much to handle initially.Sometimes they said "town"and then"suburbs".I only put up this stupid smile when they said "Main toh central line par rehti hun".For a long time I thought it was an apartment like say MANTRI Central Line.Dont blame me.Thats how it is in Bangalore.I only knew the bollywood lingos of bidu,bhai n mamu.But there were so many more.At the end of everything nice ,they said "Fatte!!" and they promised saying "Aaishapat". Fashion hits that city first and for shopoholics, its a treat. If you have to know the importance of time,this is the place to be.Its 7 am and then suddenly its 10pm(Its more for those who enjoy the night life though).
The city only made me sad when I saw thousands of people sleeping on platforms and so many more places you would never think of.There is a clear class divide in Mumbai.May be I dont want to use the word , its stark poverty.There are millions of people working in this most happening city and trying to make both ends meet.Just one thing that connects them all and is the same through out the city is the "ATTITUDE".Hats off to them! Thanks Mumbai , It was a pleasant stay.
Laakh Laakh Roz Aake Bas Jaate Hain
Is Sheher Is Dil Laga Ke Phas Jaate Hain
Sone Ki Raahon Mein Sone Ko Jaaga Nahi
"Ye hai BAMBAI NAGARIYA !!!!!"
"Yahan toh footpath bhi housefull hai"
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
I dint go missing .....
Finally the day is here when I got the guts to tell Mr.Lazy & Procrastination that "Enough is enough".How long will you people rule over me?I better get back to my virtual social life :)
Generally the process goes like this.I see something or feel for it and then decide to post it.Guess thats what happens to all bloggers(Not considering the "Just for the heck of it" crowd).But in the last few days the cloud of lethargy hugged me tight and refused to get rid of me.I had great experiences during the last few months, experienced a new city,compared it a million times with my Bangalore,thought for hours about why Mumbai is called the city that never sleeps and more than all this, I thought almost everyday that I will write about it in my blog.All these thoughts crossed my mind in the BEST buses of Mumbai and I left them back when I disembarked.Not that they need more reasons,but they still must be buzzing with my thoughts and ideas.So coming to the point...btw I dont have any.
Just that when Prof.Ray Titus said in class "I dont understand what makes you guys so lazy at this age?" .....Dimaag ki ghanti baj gayi !!!!
This is a promise to my thoughts , ideas and brain waves that I l never let them just go and surely put them in words and a little something to my blog followers....Thanks people and WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE.
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