Brand new

Brandbaja is a neologism coined out of the words brand and baja (a Hindi word that means band/noise/music). It's a new little fun spot where I focus on something else that interests me just as much as some of the other things that interest me just as much: Radio.

Stop start

Perhaps the only person who regularly visits these pages, my very patient girlfriend, asked me why I discontinued this blog? Here's your take on it.

The way I see it, everything you need to know to help you create good advertising is on the pages of this blog. Exercises to help you think more creatively. Ways to write more effectively. Links to regularly updated ad sights and tools to help you create. I didn't stop this blog. I just decided to stop adding my two bits to it.

This blog is not just about what I write here. It's also a gateway to some fabulous raw material for advertising that I have linked you to. At the end of the day, it's not what I put out, but what you put in that will help you create good advertising.

All you need to do now is practice the fundamentals I have tried to lay down for you here. Or, wait for my book.

Press stop

If you want to do create good advertising, you must know when to stop. It's time to stop.

Logo showgo #2: 7/10

Is it the name or is it the logo? The question is, what is the question? You tell me. It's how discussions are born. It's how knowledge is created. It's how advertising works. And this logo? I think it's the name that makes the logo. That said...

Disruption #9

Advertising is all about creating a disruption with words and pictures. Here's a term that's designed to create a disruption. What does it mean when something decides to 'Go Baghdad' on you? Thanks Scott Adams for that one. And for my daily dose of disruption.

Wii love it

Proof that Nintendo is likely to win the numbers in the gaming wars and that it has taken the gaming experience to the next level. Don't just take my word for it, look at the picture and tell me why not. We'll take it from there.

Things we buy #8: Dans le noir

Men, the next time you want to wow your girlfriend take her out for a french meal, in the dark. The latest fad in eating out has gone truly outre. Dans le noir, is encouraging patrons to experience the pleasures of dining in the dark. I'm thinking I'll go back to my country and start a chain of restaurants in the back of the beyond where we get no electricity. Maybe then, I too, will get written about in the fine pages of The Guardian.

Name call#10: The Hold all

When I was growing up, I was exposed to a term called 'hold all'. It's a uniquely Indian moniker for a bed roll with enough space to carry a matress, blanket, pillow, bathroom slippers, toothpaste, big feet, massive egos and then some. When rolled up, it looked a bit cumbersome, but was very useful for uncomfortable train journeys on the back-breaking wooden berths that used to be the norm before the Indian Railways introduced cushioned berths. Right, now why on earth did I launch into that mini-treatise on the odd ball that is the 'hold all'? Because I'm quite shocked nobody has found a better way to use it as a brand name. (A quick google yielded only one site that sells all kinds of sports equipment. Not good enough for me.)

I think 'hold all' is a helluva brand name waiting to be built. For now, though, there's a nice little blog that has bought into it. The name says it all. Appropriately enough, the namer of the said blog has a blog on the craft of naming brands.
http://theholdall.blogspot.com

Logo showgo #1: 7/10

Introducing an interactive way to understand logos. For starters, here's a logo for the Open Rights Group. I like it. If you don't, tell me why. After which, I'll tell you why.
http://www.openrightsgroup.org/

Old Mac?

Apparently the Mac's core audience is older than we think it is. Much older. A new study shows that nearly half of Apple's users are 55 or older. Does that mean most of Apple's users are old? Let's look at that line again: When it comes to home computers, nearly half (46%) of Apple's U.S. user base is 55 or older. That's compared with only 25.2% of home PC users who are in that age category, reports MetaFacts Inc., a national market research firm. It's not what you think.

Picture start #11

I promised I wouldn't go on. And then, I just couldn't stop. When you see something like this, can you? The day when I stop blogging will have to wait another day. Here's something to start you up. It certainly got me restarted.

Rohinton's mystery

I'm reading Rohinton Mistry's Family Matters. Once again, it's a book about the things Rohinton knows best: Parsis and their idisyncratic ways. It's a lesson brand builders would be well advised to make a note of. When you know something well, mine it.

Name call#9: Asimo

Honda's new robot, featured in their new commercial, is called Asimo. Do you think they're trying to riff off the name of the best known science fiction writer of the Honda generation? (Yep, the same guy.) If so, a good choice and a good move. (I think.) If not, a good name. (I think.)

Disruption #8

Why has W+K, London, chosen to call their blog Optimism? Doesn't that go against the prevailing zeitgeist? Ah, that word again. This time though, not just for effect.
http://wklondon.typepad.com/

Down play

I was watching an interview down at Plan Fallon where the interviewer starts the conversation by telling people that what is to follow isn't likely to be very good. It makes me wonder, would it be so bad to start something by telling your audience what they are about to see is going to knock their socks off? I guess it would. It would raise expectations. How, when and why did optimism become naff? Zeitgeist. (Don't worry, I just threw that in for effect.)
http://fallontrendpoint.blogspot.com/

Disruption #7

The great thing about masturbation is it makes you forget about sex. The question is what does that have to do with brand-building? If you think about it, it does. Think about it.

Good Lord!

A friend wrote to me yesterday telling me that the way to find happiness in life is to find Jesus. She's right. If you want to be happy in your job, make it your Jesus. In my experience, it's best not to make your job your Jesus. If you get so attached to your job, you're going to lose all sense of objectivity. And when you lose the ability to look at something objectively, you're better off not doing it for a living. So what does this have to do with Account Planning? A lot. A Planner is, perhaps, the only mind in the agency who's paid to look at things objectively. Poor chap, his Jesus is the brand.