The Famous Mumbai Fashion Street

I finally got to see the most talked about Fashion Street of Mumbai, this visit. Tucked cozily on the street side close to Churchgate in old Bombay, it’s a plethora of options to choose from.

As always, girls have more choices and better ones. However, most of the designs, be it for men or ladies, is much inspired by the blockbusters of Bollywood and Hollywood and tees with imprints of known rock bands. The cuts and designs are so vivid and sometimes strange, I was lost either appreciating or disliking them.

I also heard that I went in time to get the best prices due to clearance sales as Navaratri and Diwali will see a surge of new fashion.

Some are fixed price shops and some are bargain outlets. However, even the fixed price shops will have some bargain friendly goods.

And talking about the Mumbai shopkeepers, I am happy to see so much customer friendliness. When he quotes a price and you start to walk away, he says “aap Batao kitna doge, bolna aapka hak hai” (translating to “you tell me the price you would wish to offer, quoting your price is your right”. Now that’s not just as a smart line, they really mean it, making it a proud experience for the consumer. Something for our entrepreneurs to learn from.

Variety, politeness, customer friendliness and smart talk mixed in a comfortable proportion is what you would get to see there.

All in all a great experience.

Quote yours in the comments and could include it in my next review or update.

PLAYING THE MONEY GAME

While NASSCOM had predicted the India Gaming Industry to reach $350 Million by 2010. Localized content and interactive gaming is replacing the hardcore gaming scenario and no more is it about powerful computers and large disk drives, its all about accessibility and convenience.

Talking about this I have to quote my visit to R City Mall observing the various new brands and visual experience of the branded booths and exhibits.

I saw this gaming device with a elevated seat, a steering wheel and a huge 42”+ LG digital display attached. The curious I am, I went to have a closer look and found that its a dedicated console for racing games and is built to convenience. Except of course, the price. When asked about the cost the exhibitor unassumingly quoted 20 lakhs.

Considering you had to buy a gaming device for a kid in your family, would you spend that amount?

Playing is not enough – clean them thoroughly

Playing is always appreciated. Cleaning your gear is important.

What say you?

Razer Switchblade – the smallest coolest Gaming laptop

Just what gamers seek. Would you buy this if you were a gamer?

Doltish Green Beer Day 2011

I love Beer, like many of you and don’t need a reason to sip on one. However, I would not go pissed drunk to Office or School for the sheer respect for that place.  And then I find this “tradition” of Green Beer Day.

For those like me, who did not know what Green Beer Day was, its a rather silly reason to drink Green colored Beer all day and go drunk to class, started by Miami University Students and a tradition since 1952. Sometimes I feel students of Miami University just ran out of ideas and the juniors who were happy just copying the illogical habit.

Gmail Ad on Sohi Sandwich Club

How did I get there?
This SoHi $1 Sandwich ad on GMail got me curious and went to their Facebook Page. And the likes on this page suggested Green Beer Day 2011.

Likes of Green Beer Day 2011 on Sohi Sandwich Club FB Page

Curious to know why Green Beer Day was so popular I googled it.  And Viola! I find this Wiki article feeding my curiosity.  And after reading the tug between Miami University and Miami Student editorial board, I concluded, by practice, that arriving at class inebriated, would lead to disturbing the sanctity of the place of study. And this is certainly not a tolerable act.

Firstly, just adding color to the golden potion to make it green, seems so mediocre. Secondly, making it a big event, is lack of creativity. Thirdly, making it a ritual and rebelling against principles of a study place is sheer indifference. And beyond it all the display on http://greenbeerday.com/ shows Green Beer Day is March 3, 2011 and has a counter that has the countdown senselessly running even now. Also observed that the counter resets back to 30 mins 00 seconds, every time the counter expires.

Now that’s what I call Comedy of Errors  What say?

Green Beer Day dot com stupidity

Green Beer Day senseless Countdown

Win Free Books – review BookBuzzr.com

Right from Amazon to Flipkart online shopping for Books have been flourishing as more and more pen interesting stories. While being on Online shopping carts did give Authors that had less readers, a better reach and ease of selling even the seldom heard titles, marketing the titles was still the Author’s headache.

Here is a man in armor, in the form of  BookBuzzr and its customer facing game site fReado. They call it “ fReado.com – World’s Biggest Free Book-Winning Site”. Quite like a Card Matching game, this one has Front Covers of Books and Novels which you have to find the pair of. Every game gives you points and every some points makes you eligible to get books. The books are dispatched around the world by Amazon.

This surely is a very innovative way to bring less known books right in the eyes of book lovers and players.

I felt if the game was more of a widget that could be placed in blogs and other websites, it would get more prominence and users. Another area I felt lacking is, the game does not have any Indian titles and is not focussed on the Indian Audience. With FREE being the attraction, I personally felt Indians would be more participative and pro-active.

What do you feel about the game and the concept? Do let me know in the Comments.

Reblog: Relevance of Online Branding to Offline Branding (via Brandular)

The expectations from Online Branding by companies big or small is higher than that of Offline Branding. And the reason seems the flaw in positioning Offline Branding itself. While the end result of any expensive exercise is either to reach the brand out to more number of people or convert more people from “Interested” to “Buying”, the misconception is going online will translate into exponential sales. Its essential I clarify right here right now.

Expectations from Online Branding initiatives should not be too different to that from Offline Branding exercises with the exception of being able to measure and control faster than traditional media. At the same time, in today’s market scenario, either of them cannot individually fulfill your goals.

If you think otherwise, do let me know the reasons for the same, in the Comments below.

Online branding has evolved from when it was first conceptualized. Before, it was solely implemented with the use of some color schemes and the logo of the brand. Today, when competition is stiff, marketers have to find ways for their brands to stand out and promote brand recall. This is why it is now made with more artistic inputs and technological applications. Here are some facts that describe this method of branding with relevance to offline … Read More

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Reblog: The Elements of Branding

While most of us find innovative ways of positioning Branding, its essential to learn the widely used terminologies in the domain, so that positioning your pitch for both your team’s and client’s understanding is clear and well-segmented.

He is a wonderful table of branding elements developed by Kolbrener, a branding firm in New York. A handy tool to quickly segment your Brand Plan into the relevant sections for easy comprehension.

Do let me know of any other you find in the Comments.

As a great exercise to illustrate the that branding is more than a logo, Kolbrener, a branding firm in New York develop this branding elements chart. It is base on the periodic table of elements. Each element as a brief explanation on how they are part of the Branding process. It is a very illustrative way to understand Branding and its many components. Visit Table Here … Read More

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