Wednesday, February 22, 2006

In the name of RUSTED robots - A grim review


Following are few insights about us: the white collar workers

Fortunately or unfortunately times do fly……………..

And there was a time when we (ex-young grads) entered in the corporate world; gleaming, smiling with heads held high and hoping that we’ll conquer the world. Running after some far-fetched dream and yearning for some ‘big bang’. Some of us achieve them, some keep on trying and some just lose hope, but at the end of the day none of us actually realize the best of the best (actual contentment). Disillusionments, disappointments, disturbances, and disarrays do plague the course of action/success but eventually everything does fall into place fro almost everyone.

But all of us, with due course of time, become mechanical, sensible, practical, acceptable, manipulative, diplomatical and unemotional. In short, just ‘another brick in the wall’. But then again, is this price justified for the losses that have incurred?

Learning the steps to this practicality based survival we learn

1) How not to smile, laugh, speak (the heart out)
2) Hows & Wows of grapevine
3) Treating the fouls & howls of workplace

And at the end of day ( in our 60s, only if we survive till that), the corporate world dispatches us i.e. the rusted mechanical robots, back to life when there is no more ‘life’ in it ……………How beautiful!

Thanks to our choice of professions – we autonomously freely chose to be these rusted scrapped robots.

To be a scrapped robot - Ayesha Saeed

This is just a grim side of the world & yes there is a +Ve side as well (a very brighter one)

Friday, February 17, 2006

A mystics dream

Loreena McKennitt - The mystic's dream

A clouded dream on an earthly night
Hangs upon the crescent moon
A voiceless song in an ageless light
Sings at the coming dawn
Birds in flight are calling there
Where the heart moves the stones
It's there that my heart is longing
All for the love of you

A painting hangs on an ivy wall
Nestled in the emerald moss
The eyes declare a truce of trust
Then it draws me far away
Where deep in the desert twilight
Sand melts in pools of the sky
Darkness lays her crimson cloak
Your lamps will call me home
And so it's there my homage's due
Clutched by the still of the night
Now I feel you moveAnd every breath is full
So it's there my homage's due
Clutched by the still of the night
Even the distance feels so near
All for the love of you

A clouded dream on an earthly night
Hangs upon the crescent moon
A voiceless song in an ageless light
Sings at the coming dawn
Birds in flight are calling there
Where the heart moves the stones
It's there that my heart is longing
All for the love of you

Its one of my favvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv.....song!

N'joy reading & listening - Ayesha

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

We Know How to respect.....! (reaction to cartoons)


Here are some Quranic references for us & the unbelievers as well.

[21:25] Not a messenger did We send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me.

[21:26] And they say: "(Allah) Most Gracious has begotten offspring." Glory to Him! they are (but) servants raised to honour.

[21:39] If only the Unbelievers knew (the time) when they will not be able to ward off the fire from their faces, nor yet from their backs, and (when) no help can reach them!

[21:40] Nay, it may come to them all of a sudden and confound them: no power will they have then to avert it, nor will they (then) get respite.

[21:41] Mocked were (many) messenger before thee; But their scoffers were hemmed in by the thing that they mocked.

Do visit this URL http://al-islam.org/Quran/ and read Chapter 21- The prophet.

Its about time we let the world know that no matter how outraged we are we can never fall down to their level of disgrace & dishonor.

May God show us the straight way - Ayesha

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Sunscreen

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '97,
Wear sunscreen. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis or reliable then my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice....now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind: the kind that blindsides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts; don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. (if you succeed in doing this, tell me how).

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.

Understand that friends come and go, but what a precious few should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps and geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse, but you never know when either one might run out.

But trust me, I'm the sunscreen.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Marketing the Dying Product(s)

Imagine a situation when you are respected as a sagacious old man or ignored as an outdated man??好o more worthy of present day life. Does it not sound like the generation gap? It does??地nd is aptly applicable to the brands & products, which are on the verge of extinction! Hmm! If my memory serves me right, there were many a brands of yesteryear that I used but are lost in oblivion and all that I have now is just fond memories. This is the dilemma that many a brand managers are facing today. What would come of their products? How they are going to be looked at? Laughing stocks in the comity of die hard & cut throat marketers! The big question that looms large on their minds is survival??在ut how?

This is making marketers the challenge of a face lift for these outdated products??多ow to spice up the image of product that is at the verge of fading ??? fast becoming a product to be remembered but not good enough to be bought. The penetration of these products is decreasing with each passing day i.e. old users are decreasing and the new users are not interested anymore. These dying products enjoy very high awareness and recall value but this wonderful strength translates into a disastrous strong weakness i.e. people actually and actively avoid them just like girls avoid their ex-boy friends; they don???t even want to be seen or even associated with them (any more).

Why Products die: - Products are like fashion or fads and thus follow a logical life cycle where opposite breeds opposite i.e. death breeds life and life breeds death and this cycle moves on, - just like with the advent of straight pants bell bottoms vanished and vice versa. Technological evolution or marketing gimmicks have bestowed us with a lot of such products - let it be planned or not but innovations fuel themselves on the death of the existing specie. Challenge today is how to keep the momentum on and rejuvenate these products/brands. Here are some points that one needs to keep in mind in the pursuit of reviving the ex-love affair of product & consumers.

1. Change the feel of the product: If your ex-girl friend likes spikes so why not get them done? Similarly, products can go through a complete ???make-over??? and can alter themselves according to market demands, as well. This new brand philosophy should reinforce the virtues of the equity and fortify them via contemporary image.

Now to revive the ex-love affair, points of consideration should be:

1. Determine the competing product's biggest strength.
2. Find a weakness within the competing product's biggest strength.
3. Choose a message (make necessary changes in your products) that exploits the competing product's weakness.

2. Identify a new appraiser for your product: If it (the love affair) doesn???t click - it doesn???t click, so why not go out and identify a completely different and ignored user base for your products (and most of the times you will find them in masses rather then in niches). For instance, why consider dating only a prom-queen who is over-cluttered, fragmented, and very very choosy. Why not consider going-out with another woman of the lot? The idea is to identify new opportunity segments e.g. people of different SEC or of suburban areas or from a different age-group. Why not go out & hit the ignored ones directly rather than taking an aspirational approach & formulate a message that is highlighting a key problem & give them a solution. This will help them feel empowered; they are no longer in the state of borrowing (a solution which is only meant for upper class) but they are buying their problem-solver.

3. Change the way you approach them: If you are not a potential candidate for a love-affair then try being a friend, a caretaker or even a teacher but consider changing your positioning and if possible try to identify some new uses of your product. The example could be red-syrups: if they are not for impulse consumption then they are not. Why not cash on the fact that the use of one glass daily to enjoy health (and only then you can enjoy anything else even that cola) and it will bring home the desired results. Identify new uses e.g. crush ice, pour red syrup, and have a chilled treat etc.

As for the synopsis, dying products will not be the dilemma of today only if these are positively correlated to the evolutionary cycle otherwise your products too will face this fear of vanishing. So keep on re-inventing the destinations of your brands.

I am naive enough to believe that we can bring organized chaos in our services of change

Changeatoriun - Ayesha Saeed