Windfall holiday

Bakrie Eid is a public holiday! Damn it, I didn’t know it was. Rather, for someone used to the concept of restricted and mandatory holidays, I didn’t know this was a mandatory one. This is as public an acknowledgement as it gets. I made a complete fool of myself by walking into office this morning, only to realize it was a holiday on account of Bakrie Eid! I should have realized it when I hardly met any traffic on the way, or found the office parking vacant. But it wasn’t until I walked through the gates to an empty, dark office when the Security showed me the tiny holiday list on the board, clearly announcing this day off across all offices in the country.

Now I am confused what am I more upset at. The fact that I missed out on a long 3-day weekend; or that I got ready and drove 15 kms to work on a Monday morning; or that I had already got in the work mood. I guess it is more of the last one. I tend to get fidgety Sunday evenings itself, mostly staring at the long week ahead, and generally planning my next day. No prizes for guessing, the plans have all gone awry now.

Which leaves me with a daunting task – what do I do now? This blog will be completed in the next few hours. What next? Wifey is at work (it’s her fault really; she didn’t have a holiday, which made me assume, I didn’t either), so can’t really plan an outing. Besides, a day is too short for any outing in Bangalore. No movie worth watching either. Falling short of books too. A rather sadistic plan would be to call all friends who are at work! In fact, while at the Security Gate, I actually wished the holiday was called off and everyone should be asked to report to work immediately. What if there was an emergency? Some competitor had sabotaged the office! Don’t they do so in the Army? Aah! Empty mind is indeed a devil’s workshop!

Anyways, like all windfalls (not that I have had many), I don’t know what to do with it! If only windfalls were announced in advance (I know that’s an oxymoron)! Reminds me of the movie, Do Dooni Chaar – how the Duggal family cannot decide on what to do with Mr. Duggal’s Provident Fund windfall gain. It is too less for doing anything substantial with it, and too much for trivialities.

And just like in the movie, I guess I won’t be doing much with this windfall either. Just laze around, do nothing. That sounds so much like my ideal holiday idea anyways!

3 minute prophecy for customer meetings

Most sales people, over a period of time, tend to develop intuitions of how their customer meetings would unfold within the first few minutes itself. Having met a decent number of customers in my current stint, I can safely say that the first 3 minutes I spoke with the customer (in most cases) decided the fate of our meeting. So here are some typical 3 minute traits I came across, and the trends that eventually lead to the prophecies. (The context: pitching sophisticated software solutions to businesses.)

The Blissfully Ignorant

“Hey, I don’t face the problem you claim I might.”

What a start! Time to provoke and probe (in that order). In a B2B sales scenario, rarely do customers acknowledge their problems. If it did not keep them awake at night, why would they accept the meeting request in the first place! Denial of the problem is the first sign that the discussion needs to start from first principles – how profitable is your company versus industry peers; are you satisfied with your operational efficiency; do you foresee this problem when your company grows?

Prophecy – This person might not really be the right one to talk to; nonetheless now that I drove an hour for the meeting, let me at least get some internal references.

The Ostrich

“Aah!, I already solved that problem!”

Really? How did you do that? Did you deploy professional solutions or utilize internal resources to solve it? Is it working? I am sure it is to some extent, the more pertinent question though is to what extent. And would it continue to solve the problem when your business scales?

Prophecy – This one’s going to be a tough nut to crack. Competing with an existing solution is never easy; even tougher if it is an internally developed one, given the organizational emotions attached with it. Not a completely lost cause yet; let me find some competitive information and convince the customer of the merits of our solution.

The Eternal Shrugger

“I do face these problems, but I do not have the budget to solve them.”

Hmmm! So the customer is interested in listening, and wants me to build his case to request his management for funding.

Prophecy – This one’s going to be a long discussion, interspersed with many seemingly devil’s advocate role-plays. I’d better know my value proposition perfectly. Time to pull out my ROI calculations and case studies.

The Astute Deflector

“Your solution sounds good, but my industry is different.”

All right. So you need a case study specific to your industry.

Prophecy – This one knows the solution category, so it’s going to be an uphill task convincing why mine would work in his industry, even if we haven’t implemented it in the same. It will probably end up scheduling another meeting with our Application Expert.

The Perfect Target

“Here are my challenges. How can you help?”

Utopia! Why didn’t I find this person earlier! More than glad to help.

Prophecy – Isn’t it obvious?

Reflection – Is there a brotherhood of such people? Maybe I should check LinkedIn.

And the next one takes the cake; trust me this one is as true as others:

The Veterans Club

“So which B-School did you graduate from?”

Probably applies only to me or similar body structured individuals (lean, short, <5 ft. 6 inches)!

Reading between the lines – This customer is not happy that I came alone, without any seniors accompanying me to such an “important” meeting.

Prophecy – This meeting might not go anywhere.

So, fellow and seasoned salespeople - Trust you have been in similar situations yourself. If you identify with any of these, please share your experience here. If you would like to share others, please feel free to add. I am sure many would love to hear your interesting experiences.

What’s more exciting? Marketing to a mature market or creating a new one?

This blog was originally posted on GE ECLP Blog - http://bit.ly/ozofZF

Apple recently overtook Exxon Mobil to become the largest company by market capitalization in the US. It was already the darling of techies and a classic case study in marketing, so it’s not unexpected it won the stock market too. As one of the only platforms where companies from extremely diverse sectors are pitted against each other, the stock market is indeed a great equalizer.

However, I would like to kick off a debate here specifically about the two extremely different markets these companies operate in – not the technology versus oil and gas industries, but the established versus the created markets, and more importantly, the way marketers view each of these.

Apple consistently creates its own market – launching products consumers do not even know they need until they see them, and the ensuing success is the sort of legend marketers will talk about for years to come. The petroleum industry, on the other hand, is not as glamorous, and seldom would you hear of a successful marketing campaign in this industry (except for a potential damage control campaign in the case of an oil spill).

Does that obviate the need for marketing in mature industries where customers have a good understanding of what they want, at what price they want it, and who to ask for it? Is the marketing function marginalized in such industries? Is it overshadowed by the more glamorous (and arguably more challenging), yet-to-be-created, marketing campaigns? After all, aren’t marketers more motivated with (apparently) larger challenges in such industries?

While I initiated this debate considering two different industries, the disparities exist even within the same sector. Consider the oil and gas industry, where most companies are well aware of automation vendors, their price points, specifications, etc. This is a highly regulated industry with only a few players (in many instances, state-owned enterprises) and few vendors around the world. Most contracts are tendered; sales processes tend to be driven by compliance and deviation, and proven track records.   It’s easy to doubt the scope of marketing needed here given that contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, but there is actually intense competition in this area, and hence a need for solid differentiation and rigorous (and possibly innovative) commercial models. Marketers also invest substantial time in enriching the customer experience given that future business depends upon the same limited number of customers.

Continuing the same example, consider marketing operational excellence software in the oil and gas industry. This is a solution with extremely low awareness levels (at least from what I have experienced in India). It is often seen as a good-to-have versus a must-have automation solution. That makes this an area marketers can shape with great campaigns. Marketers can do this not only through standard marketing channels, but also through substantial investments in educating customers of the need for operational excellence solutions. They have to fight the biggest and strongest competitor in this space, which is ‘do nothing,’ given the steep resistance to change in such critical applications. And this would take a long time, and sustainable marketing programs to have the desired effect.

So, which is the tougher job or the bigger challenge? Creating a marketing campaign for a product in a mature market? Or marketing a totally new product category or industry where there may be less competition, better pricing opportunities, and other benefits associated with being the first mover?  

After all, aren’t short, tight deadline launches more thrilling than sustained, long-term marketing programs? What do you think? Do you prefer one over another? Do you believe one is more challenging than the other? Going back to the Apple and Exxon Mobil illustration, if the ‘best companies to work for’ lists are anything to go by, I wouldn’t be surprised if their ratings reflect their attractiveness for marketing talent too. Go ahead, air your views here. And while you are at it, enjoy these hilarious strips on disruptive innovations from the Dilbert series.

Samsung Galaxy at-TAB-oy!

This business trip was supposed to be no different for him. As usual he had got up early in the morning, skipped breakfast (and more importantly the newspaper), and rushed to the airport only to realize he had forgotten to print his e-ticket and boarding pass. Fortunately he remembered he had downloaded the airline’s app last week that not just enabled his check-in, but also helped skip the long queue. He couldn’t thank his new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 enough. This meeting was very important for him; he couldn’t have missed it in the world.

But his hectic schedule didn’t permit him to take a moment and thank his stars, or rather his decision to buy this tablet. Until a week back, he had been skeptical about paying for a tablet when his company had already provided him a laptop. Besides he also had a smart phone that kept him annoyingly busy (so much for flexible working hours). His wife would have sworn at another gadget, consider his preoccupation with the other two. Yet he bought one; or in his business parlance invested in one :)

It was while transiting at an airport that he had discovered the Samsung Galaxy Tab. Just as he was lamenting the travel adapter he had forgotten home, and the miserable battery that his laptop had consumed as he worked two time zones away in flight; he chanced a peek at the well-heeled gentleman next table engrossed in what appeared like a thin, shiny slate. He couldn’t help himself from asking what it was, only to be subjected to a ‘dude, where did you come from’ look. He always thought gadgets are 20-somethings’ personal toys until the gentleman shared his rather impressive business credentials. He seemed to be very much abreast of technology, not to mention pretty passionate about it too. Just as the gentleman rattled off the cool specs of his Samsung Galaxy Tab, he realized how outdated he was; and more importantly what he was missing. A slight swoosh across the surface, and he instantly knew he had to buy a tablet. But why this one? Weren’t there enough brands with enough variety in specs and across a wide price range available in the market? His business instincts prodded him to research more.

Thankfully the gentleman wasn’t just interested in technology, but also loved to share his wisdom. As he enlightened, this tablet was built on the Android 3.1 Honeycomb platform (another alien term), which only meant a growing user base, hence a growing app-folio to him. His years in corporate had taught him enough about the importance of putting your money where the mouth is. As long as app developers were convinced Android continues to grow, they would continue developing apps for it. Besides unlike other operating systems, Honeycomb was designed specifically for tablets. And the Tab’s form factor, weight, sleek looks, processing capabilities, all seemed in a league of its own. It wasn’t too long before he tabbed on his own, and was completely smitten by it.

He eventually realized the Tab was such an instant conversation starter, something that’s so necessary in his profession. Just as he had enquired about it to the gentleman in the airport lounge, he now was at the center of attention in his cubicle. He was the new cool guy in office. Colleagues wanted to tab his Tab, the big boss wanted to know how it fared with other tablets, and juniors wanted to book their Tab at the airport duty free, the next time he traveled abroad. His messy desk with post-its, and old pictures pinned to the soft board that he never glanced at, had now made their way to his Tab’s Mini Apps Calendar and sharp 149 ppi screen. He could have this on his laptop too, but then the experience wouldn’t have been the same, would it?

Life wasn’t very different back home either. His wife, not to take geeky fixations lightly, was herself hooked on to her favorite TV shows and movies on the Tab’s 10.1 inch high definition display. And it was a constant struggle with his son too, given the Tab’s superb audio and video quality.

But then, his intention of investing in the Tab was not just personal use. After all he spent more than 50% of his time toiling, typing and tolerating at work. The Tab was supposed to be his business companion. And which business function could survive without Office applications? Thankfully, the Tab had Polaris Office that offered the oh-so-familiar PowerPoint, Word, Excel functionality without the glare commonly associated with laptops. Just as he was about to miss his infamous keyboard-smashing tag given the speed with which he typed, the Tab’s snugly fit, keyboard dock accessory had saved his professional life. It’s camera and collaboration tools were things that he had already been sold on to.

But today was still different in its way. By now, he had got used to reading his favorite business magazines on the Tab’s Readers Hub, and so hadn’t missed the morning newspaper. He wasn’t bothered about the already-seen movie titles in the in-flight entertainment system, for he carried his movie library on his Tab. And no, the uneasy feeling in a new city in a new country didn’t bother him either. His Tab’s GPS showed he was on the right track, and he was connected with his friends and family through the Social Hub. This meeting was far too important for him. This client was known to be temperamental and his proposal though brilliant still needed a magic touch. Alas, if only he could find something that could strike a comfort level with him.

Apprehensively he entered the conference room and readied his Tab for the presentation. This time there was no fear of slow connectivity; he was confident of his Tab’s speed and HSPA+ connection. Yet the edgy feeling kept coming back. He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts as the client entered exclaiming, “Attaboy!” Taken aback, it took him a moment to realize the ice had been broken. The client having noticed the Tab, was charmed at the prospect of working with someone who was so progressive, matching steps with contemporary technology. Needless to add, the presentation went off well. And they say, tablets are personal toys, not meant for business – he thought to himself!

Ecstatic at his success, he dashed off to the airport to board the flight back home. And this time he shopped for gifts for his family. For this time, he did not have to bother about the weight of his cabin baggage. The Tab’s Readers Hub had made more than enough space in his bag otherwise stuffed with books and a heavy laptop. He could well imagine the look on his son’s face when he clings to the toy he had bought him – Attaboy!

PS: Attaboy – (idiomatic, colloquial) Used to show encouragement or approval; an accolade – Wiktionary.org

Wandering through Wayanad

It’s almost as if it is mandatory for Bangaloreans to venture out on a long weekend. The Good Friday-Easter weekend was no different. And I seem to be well on the path to turning a true Bangalorean now. This long weekend was a must holiday for me too. And typical of all things Bangalorean, one needs to plan way in advance for everything – movies – you book them 3 days in advance, holiday – book them at least 2 weeks ahead! And chances are you would still find it difficult to find a decent accommodation anywhere within 300 kms radius of this city. Just shows the amount of frustration building within ITzens, desperate to run out of the city on the first opportunity.


Alas! I hadn’t learnt it yet. Nevertheless I managed to find an accommodation after a 3 hour online research, finalizing hotels thrice only to be told later they aren’t available and the website isn’t updated. After 3 levels of escalations in the travel company, I was finally set for my short junket to Wayanad.


Around 280 kms from Bangalore, Wayanad is popular for its forests. Most blogs and people I spoke to advised me of a 5-5.5 hour drive; I should have realized all of them were Indians with typical estimation senses – round the corner in India implies a good 2 kms, and 5 hours actually meant 7 hours! Anyways the beautiful drive more than made up for the inaccurate advice. Especially once we touched Kerala. The drive through the forest reserve is amazing (unfortunately I am not good at remembering names of places, was it Bandipur?). It’s quite surprising how the roads in this dense jungle are so well maintained, and thankfully visitors are civil enough not to litter them yet. Have a look at this pic:

Just as we were taking in the beauty of the place, we spotted a few vehicles parked by the road with people staring at the jungle beyond. My curiosity (and to a good extent, the herd mentality) made me stop by too. The cynicism apart, it gave me my first brush with wildlife photography. Naah, I am not as enthusiastic a wildlife photographer as many others I have come across, and I am damn scared of all birds and animals other than humans. But then, any amateur photographer’s portfolio is incomplete without a few pics of freaky insects, pixilated pics of birds in flight and a few with small pecks of animals shot at a long distance. I tried my best to capture these wild elephants with my 18-55 mm lens and the one you find here is actually at maximum zoom. I was told these can run at 60 kms an hour, so didn’t try being too adventurous to overcome my modest lens’ limitation.

Moving on, hungry as we were with a 7 hour drive, the only thing we longed for apart from a sumptuous lunch was to find our abode to rest our weary souls. Winding through another jungle road, we finally reached our destination – Aranyakam. I am very apprehensive of home stays after our bad experience with the one in Coorg, but this one was totally different. In fact, I would call it a 2 star resort rather than a home stay. The rooms are completely independent of the owner’s home, and while it does not have the amenities of a resort, it doesn’t encroach on your privacy the way home stays do. This looked like a classic British era place; we later confirmed this place is indeed 90 years old. Despite the tiring drive, the coffee plantation and the adjoining valley was reason enough to scan the place than rest sometime. And it didn’t disappoint either. Perched right on the edge of the valley was a beautiful tree house, with a breeze so strong that it could have swayed the entire house. If that wasn’t enough, there was also the danger from a panther that had tread the path to this tree house the night before.

Eventually our rumbling stomachs got the better of us, and we waited patiently for what we expected a hot, spicy, Kerala meal. Only to be served some cold rice, a vegetable that I can’t remember (and would never want to), and a curry that I could barely identify. Definitely not worth the money, but again staying in Bangalore, we have learnt to keep our value-for-money expectations pretty low (I can be countered that this applies only to vegetarians in this city; and I’d tend to agree).


With barely a few hours left before sunset, we decided to make the most of the day otherwise lost to driving and bad food. So the immediate next destination was a waterfall (again I don’t recall the name). For someone coming from Lonavala, where you find waterfalls every few kms, the ones in Wayanad are no attraction. But the weather is so beautiful, and the place thankfully not as commercialized, that it does make the visit worthy. Finally tired after a long day, we retreated to Aranyakam to catch up on a highly missed sleep.


The next morning promised to be a busy one. We planned to visit Kuruwa island and drove close to 2 hours through an extremely bad road, only to realize that the island was closed for the day due to heavy flooding of the Kabini river. What a shame, couldn’t they just broadcast it 50 kms earlier. And that wasn’t it. We then drove another 30 odd kms to a dam (not worth the memory or the mention) to find a rather small lake with 3 hours waiting time for boating. Again coming from Lonavala that boasts of many popular dams, this was no attraction at all. Nonetheless we persisted further to visit Soojipura waterfalls albeit with moderate hopes. While the falls weren’t all that great, the drive was amazing. It traversed huge tea plantations and for a minute, I thought I was probably somewhere in Darjeeling. Check these pics out!

As we drove back to Aranyakam, it started drizzling and the fog was so dense that we could barely see 5 meters ahead. Pitch dark, incessant rains, dense fog, a jungle path, and a prowling panther – wow what worse can anyone ask for? Not to mention the mouth watering delicacies (sarcasm completely intended) awaiting us back home. This dinner wasn’t as disappointing though. For one, we had warm appams that tasted heaven in the cold night.


Next morning we headed to Edakal caves. I still wonder what on earth made us choose that over driving back home. For one, you have to trek 2 hours to reach the top, of which close to an hour is attributed purely to the one way pedestrian traffic. And secondly, once inside you realize it’s too small a cavern for all the hype with no carvings, save for some minor stuff on one of the walls. The oppressive heat doesn’t help either, and you literally crave for the comfort of your AC car, if not a shower to wash off the stinking sweat.


So after a grueling trek, we headed back home. As predicted, half of Bangalore population seemed to be heading back home with us, and we got stuck in rush hour traffic post Mysore. But once back, the feeling was truly one of homecoming. I guess, I did turn a Bangalorean. Despite the minor expectation mismatches, the trip was still refreshing enough. After all I did manage to try my hand for a good time at my Canon 550D with fewer “oh no, not again” glances from my wife this time. It probably had to do with the location, practically everyone at Aranyakam had an SLR, and every second amateur photographer seem to be hell bent on perfecting the art. So here’s my portfolio for this visit; positive comments most welcome!

Flatteringly inspired

Let’s face it. Each of us aspires for recognition – recognition for our work, recognition for love, recognition even for following traffic rules or paying taxes! What matters equally is where this recognition comes from. A colleague recognizing your work perhaps does not matter as much as your boss recognizing it; the latter’s recognition far less valuable compared to that from the management. Likewise your school teacher’s recognition of your homework is definitely far more important than your mom’s!

I believe one of the best sources of recognition though, is one that comes from your closest competitor. As they say, imitation is the best form of flattery, and as I tweak it here, the best form of recognition too! I have often heard salesmen bragging about poaching competitive accounts. It’s almost as big an ego boost as when a pretty girl riding pillion on someone else’s bike glances at you.


That ego trip is seldom possible in marketing functions. It is however extremely flattering when your closest competitor literally copies your business idea, complete with its positioning and messaging. I am glad to have been a victim of one such marketing plagiarism and believe me I am mighty delighted at that! Its one thing for your target audience to relate to your message, the icing on the cake is your competition also believing in it, and in the absence of any major differentiator (for the competitor) copying it word-by-word. How I wish I could share this sample here, only if had not been a public forum and I didn’t value my job (and associated perks) enough!


And there are enough examples of such marketing plagiarism. A few years back, the Miranda campaign featuring a pug was a direct inspiration of the more popular Hutch one. Apparently, the Britannia Little Hearts outdoor campaign was also a straight lift from the same Hutch campaign (I haven’t seen this one though). I doubt if such blatant plagiarism really serves any purpose for the inspired, other than a higher recall often attributed to notoriety rather than popularity. But then, there are enough people who believe in being in the news, whether it is for good reasons or bad. It does give a good chuckle to the original creator though. Check out one over here and another here.


As for me, I cannot do much beyond basking in the glory of the moment, and contemplating adding this to my CV (no kidding – seriously contemplating a line that would read “…credited for creating a new industry category and inspiring competition to follow suit”). Maybe I should also ask this competitor to pay me two months’ salary for making their job so easy. I have seriously incriminating evidence to support my claim – our website statistics clearly reflect their visits in the past two months, and the shameless content copy is proof enough. Until then, enjoy this storyboard of the Mirinda campaign, I guess I don’t need to remind you of the original Hutch commercial.

Business Dharma Sankat

The words in the title don’t usually go together, do they? While dharma sankat manifests itself primarily in personal lives, quite often one goes through it even in business / corporate life. This blog is a true story that was triggered by (a) a live business problem and (b) by someone who was possibly inspired by Devdutt Pattanaik’s article on a similar subject, and recommended the solution to the problem. You can read Devdutt’s article here - http://devdutt.com/dharma-sankat-in-family-business/


Just as in personal lives, there are people who live by the rules, irrespective of the context in which they were set or their relevance in current scenario. And then there are those who place higher importance to principles, rather their own logic over rules, people who defy conventional, stated rules and do what they believe is right.


Drawing from popular Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, Rama and Krishna both uphold principles, but while Rama always goes by the rule book, it is clearly not the case for Krishna, who does not mind breaking rules (if need be) to pursue his beliefs. On the other end, we have Ravan and Duryodhana, both of whom are not very high on principles, but Duryodhana still follows rules; remember his last fight with Bhima, where on Krishna’s advice, Bhima strikes Duryodhana below the waist, a visible breach of the fight’s rules, but Duryodhana does not respond with the same. As against Ravan, who continues his brush with the prevalent law, period.

Now here’s the business connect. Typical in marketing functions, one is expected to position products / services / solutions (Kotler counts over 10 aspects a marketer can market) as being the best available on this planet. Nothing wrong with it, except in situations where it is difficult to substantiate the claims. But then, just as in the army, one is expected to follow directives, not question them. Sarcasm apart, that does deliver things faster, but would save this debate for another day. So how does one market an offering, when the stated rules demand proof points?


Here’s where the marketer needs to transition from Rama to Krishna. Do you really believe in your offering? Do you think it will benefit your customers? Would they find it worth the buck they pay for it? If you do, break the rules. Market it such that it appeals to at least a select few early adopters, if not the entire addressable market. If it indeed proves itself in the marketplace, others would follow suit. Do NOT lie; just HYPOTHESIZE. If the hypothesis is validated, great; if negated, there’s always an opportunity to iterate.


Didn’t Krishna block the sun for some time to allow Arjuna to seek revenge for his son, Abhimanyu’s cruel death in the Chakravyuha? His intention here was noble. Ignoring war rules, the Kauravas had fought simultaneously with Abhimanyu and killed him. Enraged by his son’s death in such a manner, Arjuna had vowed to kill Jayadratha before sunset or immolate himself. In such a situation, Krishna lifted his hand to shield the sun and feign sunset, thereby enticing the Kauravas to come closer to Arjuna under the presumption that Arjuna would keep his word and immolate himself. But remember, Krishna had promised Duryodhana of not lifting a weapon in the Kuruskshetra war, and he stood true to his words, but he did lift his hand – to Arjuna’s relief and the Kauravas’ dismay, Krishna had bet just on a hypothesis and thankfully succeeded!


Likewise in business, or for that matter any dilemma in life. Follow your beliefs more than the rules. Test it out yourself, it might just work. If it doesn’t, feel free to rant about it on this blog :)

Corporate Blinders

Ever seen a horse racing towards the finish line, a harder gallop with every whip of the jockey jumping excitedly over him? With blinders restricting its view of the applauding crowd and competing horses, I wonder if it enjoys the race as much as those who bet on it or those that drive it towards its goal.


Sounds quite familiar in the corporate world too, isn’t it? Time and again, organizations expect things to be done in a set way, leaving little tolerance for deviations. Why are things done that way? Ahem, because they have always been done that way! Why shouldn’t I try something new? Because you are not expected to. Thou shall not tread the unbeaten track! Hell, why? Because I hold the whip! And of course, people who bet on me expect me to win, not enjoy the race.


The result – Same old, boring deliverables, absolutely no differentiation, whether in the market place or the work place. After all, the jockeys and their commandments remain the same. But then, the daring few (often labeled mavericks) who do break the mould go on to create corporate history, and naturally reap dividends. But that’s only in the long run. You can’t really win a 100 meter sprint if you don’t run with focus on your track, versus the marathon, where you can enjoy the passing views, while staying on course.


The blinder metaphor is arguably more pronounced in B2B industries than B2C. While the risks are higher, it doesn’t hurt to try out something new once in a while. Hasn’t Cisco managed it so effectively? Since when were networking products so glamorous? Check out their campaigns on their website, or their community on Cisco Live their user conference. Microsoft, Google, IBM are up there in the same league. And while they do have a B2C connection too, their B2B programs have been equally unconventional off late. Imagine the fate of these brands, had they not opened up their blinders yet. Of course, it has a lot to do with their jockeys too, who allowed them to do so in the first place and full credit to their management for reposing their faith despite age old wisdom advising against it.

And they have been rightly rewarded too. Not just in their stock prices and revenues and profits, but even in terms of the audience that now consider their solutions. My marketing genes tempt me to throw in a few jargons – read a wider addressable market instead of audience :) And who wouldn’t want to work for such cool companies! Or continuing the metaphor, run for these jockeys!


I am sure you have also come across similar blinders in your work life. Feel free to share here.




PS: Please ignore the watermark on the corporate carrot image.