An Important Announcement

After my blog www.manishankarthetrainer.blogspot.com and microblog www.twitter.com/manitwitts, welcome to my third blog www.manishankarscribbles.wordpress.com!

Learning from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Opening Ceremony

Size doesn't matter, the attitude matters!Yours truly was stunned after seeing the fabulous ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 Opening Ceremony held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.The immediate thought which crossed the mind was the comparison of the opening ceremonies held in the subcontinental world cups dated 1987 and 1996.There are some important learning which the bigger and more powerful neighbour(read India) can decipher from the recently concluded opening ceremony in the capital of its eastern neighbour.They are as follows-
(1)The country marketed itself in a commendable manner by riding piggy on the ICC World Cup 2010 stage.
(2)The homogenous and simple flow of the event without and hiccup or glitches is praiseworthy.
(3)Everyone contributed under the able leadership of PM Shiekh Hasina, which was evident from the all round support and preparations of the event.
(4)One point agenda of everybody starting from the rickshaw puller plying Dhaka to the cricket official of BCB(Bangladesh Cricket Board)was to make this event a grand success which in turn would generate lot of foreign revenues and indirect employment in the months to come.
(5)No last minute hassles like Eden Garden and CWG fiasco in India
(6)No Kalmadi type corrupt sports administrator in the helm
(7)Adequate opportunity given to fellow co-hosts like India and Sri-Lanka thereby displaying their big hearted approach towards the neighbouring country
(8)For once Indian corrupt politician, Agriculture minister and ICC President, Sharad Pawar was honest and vocal while saying this was the best opening ceremony he had witnessed, indirectly referring to the maladies of those held in India in 87 and 96 respectively.
(9)The show as simple yet modern with all the latest technologies in display, not to forget the perfect blend of Bangladeshi culture and modernity
(10)Refusal of Shakira and accepting Bryan Adams as the latter quoted an astronomical sum speaks volumes about the reality the decision makers lives in.India would have accepted that offer and the decision makers would in turn had generated personal kick-backs for the same.

Its time when Indian cricket board, supposed to be the richest, but the most fragmented within and the Indian politicos understand and learn from their small neighbour.Size and selfish approach doesnt matter, attitude, determination, passion and love for the country matters when it comes to organizing global events like Common Wealth Games, World Cups etc. Is Kalmadi and co listenting?

Unique Promotion by Red Bull in Oman

Everyone globally is aware about the leading energy drink,Austria based Red Bull. A whole lot of case studies has been written about the same, focussing on branding and other allied aspects of marketing, viz. promotion. Yours truly had been witnessing one of the unique promotional strategies of this novel brand in the Sultanate of Oman for the last two years. Being a brand especially targeted to the youth segment of the society who are not only health consciousness, but also the upwardly mobile cutting across demographies (read students, corporate executives, professors),the brand presents its attributes through adventure sports. The bicycle specialist roped in from Europe having expertise in making acrobatic displays stunning jumps from one peak to another trough to the applause of the audience present. Yours truly witnessed the event two years in succession in the leading colleges and universities especially when the institutes are busy arranging events like Career Fairs/Job Fairs which in turn draw huge audience from different parts of the Sultanate.To add to this extravaganza the company distributes free samples of Red Bull and the acrobatic display has a DG in the background revealing the dynamism of the brand.The approach adopted to relate the features of the brand with the promotion and advertising is a marketing professional's delight. The video of the eye-catching promotion would soon be attached to this blog. Meanwhile,read and comment.

Muscat Festival-2011

Muscat festival-2011 being underway is a gala event organized in the capital city of the beautiful country, the Sultanate of Oman.An annual event it's a blend of art, literature, handicrafts, culture and heritage of a galaxy of nations from all over the world.The confluence of so many nations, coupled with the fun-filled environs of the celebrations makes it a grand place for family and friends to meet, greet and learn as well.Yours truly along with a pal joined the celebrations and trust me the lazer show, the musical fountains and the light show were great stuff.However, what caught the attention was the education being provided to all on the fall-out of drug abuse, along with the cultural shows being presented by the artists of different countries.The traditional Russian dance and the Omani dance were absolute delight to the eyes.The arrangements were absolutely perfect and kudos to the organizers for the same.Some of the snaps can be seen from https://picasaweb.google.com/100721812686617711632/MuscatFestival2011?feat=email#

Made in India brand making it big in the Global Stage

It is indeed soothing to the eyes when an Indian traces MADE IN INDIA brand in any of the other markets apart from that of the domestic one.Most of the Indian companies have gone global by either acquiring global brands (read Tata-Corus, Tata Motors acquiring Jaquar, Landrover range of cars)or by selling Indian brands to global behemoths(read Ramesh Chauhan's Parle beverages being acquired by Coca-Cola)or even made in India cars from the stable of Maruti Suzuki like Alto, Swift plying on the foreign roads. Even a Tata Nano here and there being sold in the global market under the parent brand name or that of the marketing partner is a moment of pride for all Indians, as we present our frugal engineering capabilities to the world market.Tata Tea and Tata-Tetly Coffee can be sipped in the leading hotel and cafe chains,which in turn adds to the overall flavour of the iconic Indian brands.A serious thought would make one wonder as to how these corporations found their feet in the highly competitive and regulated overseas markets after coming from an emerging nation. Indian IT brands like Tata Consultancy, Infosys, Wipro to name a few are household names and even giants like Big Blue(IBM)have felt their tremors.Inspite of the bottle-necks and red-tapism, not to forget the mammoth corruption being unearth every now and then, hats off to corporate India for taking such gigantic leaps in a cut throat competitive era.Indian leaders needs to understand the inherent capabilities of Indian organizations and its manpower thereby reducing the looting spree of the public exchequer! India can glorify even more if the so called national decision makers realize the importance of the sentiments of a billion plus population based inside and outside India.2G, Adarsh Housing, erstwhile Fodder Scams are taking center-stage for all the bad reasons, mainly due to their sheer magnitude and impact!What an irony!