Lighting Up The Lives

Hyderabad based Thrive Energy Technologies sells and distributes this LED portable home light, which has been one of the more visible LED lighting products around. To complete the brand building exercise they gave their product a fancy sounding name - "Accendo". And finally the great minds at Thrive came up with this disturbingly arsonist tagline -

LIGHTING UP THE LIVES
in Villages, Forests & Towns"

I own one of their lights (in photo), luckily though I escaped their pyromaniacal designs by simply living in a city.

Link:
http://www.thrive.in/led_lighting/led_home_lighting.htm

Having Your Say

Today's papers are abuzz with news of yesterday's papers. In some centers (not Hyderabad though) The Hindu and The Times of India let advertisers have a go at communicating not just with words but also through voice. Volkswagen bankrolled the campaign for its new launch - Vento. And going by the response, the newspaper-embedded Chinese-made photo-responsive audio chip is da bomb!

"While the innovation startled most readers, many found it interesting and arresting. But it had some unintended consequences as well. At many places, calls were made to the police with people suspecting the device was a bomb. Mahim in Mumbai witnessed a scare after a pedestrian heard a ''beeping sound'' coming from a garbage bin and alerted the police. A bomb squad reached the spot, near S L Raheja Hospital, and found that it was the audio-ad..."
-Times of India

Link:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/09/volkswagen-plants-audio-ad-in-print-newspaper/
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/09/22/stories/2010092252880500.htm
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Volks-populi-Audio-ad-in-TOI-creates-a-buzz-literally/articleshow/6604113.cms
http://www.moneylife.in/article/78/9296.html

Never Before

Shopping season has descended on Hyderabad. In the ensuing hoopla there are some offers that you cannot refuse and others that you cannot understand. Here is a nominee for the second category.



Wonder how they manage to sell their stocks of decoupled footwear in the off-season without this offer. Mix & match perhaps?

Do You Trust?

The garment industry has to meet the customers' quality expectations and the expectations aren't always sky high in India if the price is right. That being the case, when it comes to underwear, the concept of seconds can still be dicey. None the less this peddler found brisk business on the footpath opposite the state secretariat in Hyderabad today.

The Eyes Have It

Today the only remaining form of visual art that is truly accessible to the general public is the movie poster. They are everywhere, in the cities they occupy all vertical surfaces within eyeshot, in the more rural areas they are seen up on those kaccha walls. Within the limits of a few square feet of space the poster has to convey an idea to the viewer that should tickle him into spending time and money on the movie - the job of designing these posters is as much a challenge as making the actual movies.

A recent poster that caught my eye was of Mahesh Manjerekar's City of Gold. The intended emotion of dispossessed anger that the filmmaker wants to convey comes through clearly in the posters.


The subject matter of the film is about the shutting down of the textile mills of Bombay in the 80s to make way for real estate developers to erect structures that form the current skyline of the city thus resulting in the destitution of mill workers. Incidentally the producers of the movie, DAR Motion Pictures are themselves into real estate development.

Links:
http://www.marchingants.net/home.htm
http://www.impawards.com/designers/marching_ants.html

True Worth

The grotesqueness of an eyeball fueled money hunt that is IPL is too much for some to handle. As Gordon Gekko said "Greed.. is Good". But it shouldn't show.

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/455783.html

In an unassuming manner, Mr. Ashok Malik here brings out some of the factors at play when a player really starts to appraise his skills for every conceivable Rupee that can be squeezed.

Nodding Along

About a year ago I read a tiny book called 'A Very Short Introduction: Machiavelli' by Quentin Skinner. The subject of the book is famous for his unique take on politics and statecraft. Even if they didn't read Machiavelli, every politician does what he wrote about. The section of the book that interested me was the opening section that covered the reasons which led to Machiavelli writing his most famous work - 'The Prince'.

It revealed that while writing this definitive textbook on the cut-throat world of state intrigue and power-grabbing, Machiavelli was simply trying to prove his credentials. Thus for such a monumental work, all that motivated Machiavelli was the idea of impressing one of his readers - the ruler of Florence, to such an extent so as to secure employment for himself. Did he really then believe in all he wrote? Who's to say.

This is the way most creative projects function, without a patron there are no artists, musician or writers. And a patron could be any person who supports or appreciates the endeavor. So most times the works that are regarded as masterpieces are considered so because the viewer (or consumer) perceive them to be great, this view may not necessarily be shared by the creator of the piece.

Since the tastes of the viewer and the creator may differ, today the prior endorsement of the consumers is procured in all the big ticket creative fields. Movies are screened to a test audience before release and books are professionally vetted by the publishers to ensure that the patrons like the 'product'. So creative pieces should not be uncomfortable in being classified as products, because that's what they are - they are in fact the only products that human beings can claim complete ownership of. Therefore if the product needs to be okayed by the consumer, then it is the job of the artist to make sure they get that approval. Otherwise we all would be artists of note.

Take a look at this Bruno interview where he satirically tears apart a fashion designer's work and presents a sorry image of what can be dressed up to be creativity. Sadly though this is the case with most people making a living on being creative, they are just out there to please.



Links:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071018/REVIEWS/710180306
http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/453685.html

Essential Delusions

Imagining forward and projecting into the future is a difficult thing to do. Only the very brave or the very reckless venture to spell out what is not yet there. Having a vision therefore is a motivational strategy to coax others into acting, sometimes even against their better judgment or will. Selling these delusional visions hence becomes very important. There are various methods of selling these delusions, indeed there are many different delusions to be sold:

The Personal Variety:
A more confident, rich, popular or better looking future-you. This is the generic illusion through which the individual should end up buying the products and services advertised. Thus a brighter future for you is what the manufacturers predict (only if their production-line goods are bought). Hence even the most disturbing insurance products try to tempt you into cheerfully betting on your untimely death in order to experience a windfall gain - here your future is great even without your presence in it!

The People Variety:
The populace is made to believe that they will collectively be transported to the "promised land". This is the domain of the government, politicians and leaders. In this future everything surrounding the individual is better. There will be freedom from want and there will be nothing to fear. The developments of science & technology are shown as signs of things to come. We are left to extrapolate the progress graph of civilization to see what the future holds. Glories of the past are reaffirmed and emulation is seen as possible.

The Other Worldly Variety:
The future here is seen from some transcendent place. This is the bastion of non-rationality. The concern for the future is replaced by a concern for something beyond (or beneath) normal explanations. The delusion sold here is that the destination to be arrived at in the future is already known. The organized religions are the main peddlers of this fantasy and their tools vary from inspiration to fear mongering.

A combination of these and other delusions are the essential fuels to the keep the engine of human endeavor running. Ultimately though it has to be recognized that the buyers and the sellers in these transactions are inevitably the same.

And the Blue Signifies..

The Central Vigilance Commission of India (CVC) which is the apex body for the prevention of corruption in India some years ago in 2003 suddenly felt the urge to up its branding. Unlike the US government, the Government of India doesn't assign any seals to its agencies, so the CVC went out and hired a graphic design consultant and bought themselves a logo like any respectable department should do.

Thus far the CVC was within its rights to want a symbolic representation of their righteous crusade against corruption. But then they just couldn't help themselves. In an apparent effort to set an impossibly high benchmark in transparency on trivial issues that most agencies would avoid emulating out of sheer embarrassment, the CVC never the less went ahead and elaborated at length the true meaning of their beloved logo on their website:

" The Central Vigilance Commission has adopted a logo. The logo consists of a graphic representation of an eye encased within the letter “C”. The eye represented in a pleasing blue colour is symbolic of the collective determination of the community to be vigilant against any erosion of rights through illegal and improper actions of public servants. Encased within the letter “C” the eye represents the Commission overseeing the vigilance administration in all public organisations and helping in arriving at quick and logical decisions in all vigilance cases. The logo has grouped positive and negative elements within it and the deliberate choice of the blue colour signifies an active, ever vigilant but positive and friendly Central Vigilance Commission. "


http://www.cvc.nic.in/cvc_logo.htm

Boneheaded

While feeding the dog this month, I noticed that some of the pellets of the "Pedigree's Adult Dog Food" were crafted in the shape of bones. On first sight all seems very logical - dogs are known to love their bones hence shaping food in that shape should increase its appeal to the dogs. Except that the pellets are tiny (less than an inch in length) and my dog doesn't seem to appreciate the aesthetics of its meal - it just gobbles.



Realization dawns that the shape of the pellet is designed to appeal to the human customer and not necessarily to the canine consumer. The dogfood people do their jobs: massage our egos to get to our wallets. And I have come to appreciate the crucial role product design plays in the the overall marketing strategy.

Update: 1st Feb - Article on Steve Job and Apple's approach to Product Design:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/weekinreview/31lohr.html

Robbery by Consent

Along with millions of other users, I too got an SMS from the merry folks at Airtel (my cellphone service provider) dated 30th Dec 09 at 9:35AM. Here is the content:

"Kindly note your discounted SMS tariff will not be applicable on 31 Dec 09 & 1 Jan 10. All SMS sent on this day will be charged @ Rs.1 as per the normal tariff."

In any case, the situation in the state as it is with all the bandhs and mild disorderly behavior, I am betting there won't be a large number of "Happy New Year!" greetings flying around. Though I can't say the same for the rest of the country who'll have to pay the whole rupee for each message.

Update, Jan 2nd 2010:

2 Billion SMSes sent on New Year's eve in India. The service operators made a killing, put together they made around Rs. 1.5 billion with the varying tariffs across plans and geographies. Seems some Airtel packages offered messaging @1 paise (Rs. o.o1) per SMS. By that measure they must have my profile up their in the "sucker" category who would be happy to pay a premium of a 100 times for the exact same service.

In the spirit of consumer awareness, I therefore was eagerly awaiting the "Mobile Number Portability" scheme that the telecom regulatory authority was to introduce on January 1st across the various service providers at a nominal rate of Rs. 19 . The cartel though had the last laughs by successfully delayed its implementation yet again, this time by atleast 6 months.

The Romantic Weapon

Here is a piece of communication which sends mixed signals. I can't understand the language and the bad date music seems out of place in a weapon sale pitch. No wonder the shooter has those earmuffs on!



The Belgian made FN P90 is one of the weapons that is used by the Special Protection Group (SPG) in India. The SPG in India, like the US Secret Service is charged with the protection of the Prime Ministers (present and former), their families and top officials. My guess is that the SPG guys would need similar ear protection around that crowd.


Related Links:
1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_P90
2. http://www.spg.nic.in/

Tales of Heads

The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple at Tirupati, India is the richest and the most visited temple in the world. Devotees from far and wide make the pilgrimage and the folklore of the temple is well known throughout India. Although insignificant in comparison to its religious importance yet there is one other reason for temple town's fame - Tirupati is the world's largest producer of human hair, infact enough to make India the world's largest exporter of hair.

One of the traditions at the temple is the tonsuring of millions of devotees' heads as an offering to the Gods. The hair thus donated finds great value in the international market. The temple's trust - Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam is charged with the management of the shrine and consequently also auctioning the tonnes of hair to generate revenue for the temple.

The current accepted notion of beautiful hair is very close to the Indian variety. The average Indian woman's head is not accustomed to the cosmetic torture that the western woman puts herself through and hence the quality of the export is better. Therefore the hair goes into making hair extensions, wigs and other cosmetic products consumed in a culture very different from the producer's. Here is an example of harmonious trade among nations where everyone comes out a winner, well almost. Although there are no complaints about the trade practices but it escapes most of us that the business is based on a uniquely uneasy issue - beauty.

Both beauty and the beholder's eye are functions of culture. The dominant culture or race in a society dictates the standards of beauty which generally resemble their own physiology. Therefore in the US where African-American women are a minority in all respects, it becomes harder to sustain their idea of beauty against the onslaught of the establishment's ideas, especially regarding African hair. This is the subject of a recent movie/documentary by the acclaimed African-American comedian Chris Rock - "Good Hair", he even came down to Tiruapti to follow the fake hair trail to its origins.

While the devotees in Tirupati are oblivious to the role their hair plays in the psychological battle overseas, at home they are subject to a very similar barrage with regard to skin colour. The cosmetic industry in India has been steadily picking up on the idea of fairness of skin as a desirable trait and has been eating away at the minds of Indians for years in order to sell their products. The harm that such ideas do to a population is inexcusable and the effects of such campaigns on children are especially horrendous. Ultimately though such ideas only survive because of our tacit support no matter how harebrained they may seem.

Update - Chris Rock's visit to Tirupati:

Interesting Readings:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,536349,00.html
http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/movies/09hair.html?scp=1&sq=good%20hair&st=cse
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/14/world/a-religious-tangle-over-the-hair-of-pious-hindus.html?pagewanted=all
http://seedofdevotion.blogspot.com/2008/12/liberation-at-21.html
http://www.godammit.com/2009/03/14/the-ethics-of-hair-extensions/

Diwali Dilemma

As Diwali approaches, so do the campaigns and calls for a "Clean", "Green" and "Humane" celebration. They say we are to avoid crackers which are polluting and noise making, curtail excessive consumption & spending and even try and understand the plight of the animals on the night.

All of these calls are very noble except this sensitive side of some sections of the population seem not just naive but also misplaced expressions of political opinion in the marketplace, as this article explains: Boycott Minus the Pain by Anand Giridharadas. The use of consumption as a political platform is not new in India - the swadeshi movement of the pre-independence era was a forerunner of a lot of the boycott movements of today.

But the trend of limited-liability politics currently seen, although new is not totally desirable. Campaigns like the Lights-Off campaigns at the designated "Earth Hour" which are token environmentalist movements only end up obstructing the achievement of their own objectives by using up the public goodwill in meaninglessly trivializing their cause. Therefore just as there is a dip in the grid consumption of electricity for the hour, at the end of the hour there is also a massive spike in the consumption while the production remains constant. Everyone feels a little more saintly but as an employee of the electricity distribution board will tell you - electricity is not petrol.

There is no "saving" of electricity through non utilization, only thing saved is the bill amount. Electricity is like rainwater which ends up in the drain if unused. In reality the only way to save power is by planning out consumption patterns and coordinate with various players in a complex jigsaw operation to have optimum utility. Surely too many details for the instantly gratified do-gooder.

The fact is that India being a poor country, we have to pollute more to develop. Pollution is the pound of flesh to be paid for progress and there is no getting around that. It will not be pretty or morally justifiable. And it is not out of ignorance that we deny climate change and other environmental concerns but through our knowledge of greater concerns. The sacrifice we make is that future generations might not get the best possible environment but these sacrifices are made with the hope that we can avoid passing on to them the miseries of our lives.

Recession Time Jobs

The huge Billboard over the Khairatabad Junction in Hyderabad, presumably one of many around the country on the night functioned through the duration of the Champions Trophy final (cricket) between Australia and New Zealand on the 5th of October.

This version of the analog scoreboard was manned by 3 guys - 1st guy was constantly running to and fro 50 feet above the ground changing the digits as the 2nd guy was relaying the score to him (source: his Airtel mobile?) while the 3rd guy was apparently busy laying back and taking in the view.

Full Scorecard: http://www.cricinfo.com/iccct2009/engine/current/match/415287.html

Barca vs Man U from India

It is close to midnight of the 27th. Champions League final (football is the game under consideration) is about to begin in an hour: Barcelona vs Manchester United. Both recently champions and probably the best two club sides in the world. They said Messi vs Ronaldo, lets see what goes down. Probably the biggest match before the world cup kicks off next year. The news is full of it, sports fans everywhere must be holding their breath.

But isn't this the case every year? Now I am in India. 146 is a mere number to others, but to India its a proud ranking among footballing nations. It could be worse. Well actually it was worse back in April and May of '07 (Ranked 165) but that's beside the point. None the less, there is a renewed interest in football and most strangely among the elite and they bypass all the great games on i-league (Domestic competition) and go right ahead to Europe. I hear of all those deranged fans in West Bengal and the folks of sunny Goa who have always held pride in their football, played in their neighborhood. But for all of their professed love for the game, lets face the facts, football is tough. I know, I tried out at all my schools and colleges with limited success.

Football in India I would imagine is in fact the single largest sport played in schools as opposed to cricket. A little wiki-ing will tell you that India qualified for the '50 world cup on the back of a lot of withdrawals and again came in 4th at the '56 Olympics, 4th! Also won '51 and '61 Asian Games. I even remember reading in the papers that once footballers from Hyderabad weren't half bad. My guess is that in this period the game wasn't an elitist game. Even today football is the most accessible game in India.

European Football has been aggressively promoted to India and indeed all of Asia. It is promoted to such an extent that when I switch from an EPL match to an i-league match on TV, I find it hard to find a metaphor to describe the contrast in class. In fact last May we had Bayern Munich come down to Salt Lake Stadium to play an exhibition match against Mohan Bagan. 130,000 spectators were there and Bagan lost convincingly. The marketers know that football is such a beautiful game that people will watch it no matter who plays. But the point is to be able to create real loyalty among the fan base based on a shared identity. This is only possible when we talk of local clubs not ones that play half way arond the world.

There is hope though, cricket went from an elite colonial sport to what it is today in India regardless of all its shortcomings. With football there is less to overcome and more to gain in India if only kids are allowed to take up the sport with the knowledge that there is a livelihood there.

Meanwhile Eto'o scores for Barca 10 minutes into the game.


Interesting Reading:

1. http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=ind/ranking/gender=m/index.html
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_football/3937015.stm
3. http://www.goal.com/en-india/news/136/india/2008/05/28/713897/post-match-analysis-mohun-bagan-bayern-munich
4. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/index.html
   

Market for Mandate

Honesty is such an important virtue, but in places where trust can be misplaced, credibility needs an audit. In every deal struck, the parties involved look at their own benefits before the illusive benefits of synergy arrive in the elaborate non zero-sum games. Although trust is claimed as the bedrock of any business, this trust is easier arrived at by keeping the other party honest.

And one of the most crucial deal made is the five year periodic bargain for an endorsement at the seat of power. The vote is akin to awarding of a contract, the stipulations of this contract are present in the constitution and the contract is awarded by the voters. Much like the tenders that are floated in the newspapers, the bidders have to come up with a winning offer for the contract. Ideally the winning offer should be of just & fair representation, development and what have you, but in India the offer can be converted into plain old money.

At the recent elections and in the elections of the past a curious resource is created, one that is perishable and whose rate is not fixed: The Commodified Vote. The selling price of a vote is subject to so many political conditions that the parallel to the market seems almost flawless. If it wasn't illegal, there might have been an exchange for votes with options and derivatives. It might seem naive of the candidates to trust people who sell their votes with keeping their word when the ballot is "secret" yet that is what most candidates have to settle for their money. Hardly a safeguard on their investment. But with the limits imposed by the law and public outrage, the mechanism behind the highest-bidder votes have to necessarily not get too complex or formal yet arrive at a model that delivers.

Enter Mr. Campaign Manager, the instrument for winning elections. It is only fair to have expertise on your side when faced with a seller's market. Make no mistake, if you have voted either because of a convincing campaign or by ending up with a heavier pocket, the Campaign Manager has done his job. The average going rate for a vote in 2009 was Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 depending on who you ask. Anything less and the voter is swindled and anything more and the candidate is desperate. Even at those rates, loyalty is tough to ascertain. There is always a threat that the voter collects from multiple sources and does as he wishes. That is exactly the reason why poll management is such a demanding job.


Therefore I'd like to illustrate an example (Courtesy: Dad) of a successful mechanism of election fraud mastered in India. This is a method to ensure that a vote that is bought does not end up with another candidate on counting day. (Spoiler warning: This method is no longer possible with the advent of Electronic Voting Machines used in India now)

Modus Operandi:

• Assumption: The money exchange has already taken place prior to the election date
• On the election day, each candidate is allowed to have his representatives outside the election centers seated at a designated locations.
  
• At the start of polling, one of the candidate's representative goes into the center to cast his vote but inadvertently puts the the ballot paper with the candidate's symbol marked in his pocket and walks out without voting.
• Later when the voter (who sold his vote) turns up at the representative's desk outside the center, he is given the previous ballot paper with the party's symbol marked on it. This is carried with him into the booth and he brings out his new ballot paper, which he hands over to the representative. Thus the operation is repeated all day.
  

This method obviously is not fool proof i.e. when the voter simply fails to drop the paper in the ballot. But it does ensure that the voter does not vote against the candidate after taking his money, which has to be worth something.


Interesting Reading:

1. http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2007/11/on-selling-votes.html
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fraud