June 23, 2009

Misselling to The Layman

The existence of the word misselling is a contradiction, some say it means selling something by describing the wrong attributes, and others say the word doesn’t even exist. So let’s start by defining misselling, i would personally define it as falsely convincing a potential customer about non existent features or by hiding negative side effects.

This post is not an intellectual attempt on dissecting the cons of organized advertising and marketing. There are certain things that we notice everyday yet fail to question. Doctors selling steroids as eco-friendly, healthy medicines. Water filter companies selling inefficient filters with the so called quality certifications which supplements the bad performance. The examples can go on and on.

The reason for writing this post is that, i saw someone wearing the latest collection of a popular men’s wear brand. The dress looked superb on the bollywood hero and even had a touch of class to it, but the same apparel on the layman looked downright ugly. Iam pretty sure this poor guy would have fallen for the ad campaign featuring the dress as a breakthrough, This should also be classified as misselling, these advertisements should come with statutory warnings like the "COSTUME ON DISPLAY LOOKS GOOD ONLY FOR CERTAIN BODY SHAPES AND SKIN COLORS"

These warnings should be legally enforced on all apparels, cosmetics, energy drinks etc. The layman should not be confused between drama, glamour and the actual use of the product. The advertising industry should have the guts to market the product with ordinary man stressing on their product quality rather than the brand ambasssadors financial well being. Only when the product feautures gets highlighted and stands out of the brand endorsers shadow misselling can be stopped.


Atleast only then will i see adults trying to look young in bush shirts made for teenagers. Advertising has become a medium motivated by sex and glamour. What does a scantly clad rusiian women got to do with bathroom sanitaries, it is another thing to use her for a lingerie ad. And the latest trend in advertsing is by exploiting the innocent feautres of a child, it is so evident in telecom, banking, insurance and anything that needs a hidden agenda to sell.

The hypocracy of speculative stock aarket products is so evident in their advertisements where the part with the kid and women is slow and sweet and the part where they say "Mutual funds are subject to market risks........" rushed through like a lightning. Lets open our eyes and see this dram for its true colour and shade.

Unfortunately iam in a very sarcastic and argumentative mood, forgive my prejudice and leftist arguments.



chao

June 18, 2009

On Blogging, Life and Thereafter !!

Back to blogging after a long period of absence. Reasons for blogging are many, starving for creative ideas, infective lethargy all around, transitional activities the list can go endless. Moral of the story is that, iam back to blogging with renewed vigor and passion (taking into assumption that some people were reading it occasionally and the content doesn't irritate them to the extend i assume)

So expect more senseless ramblings and meaningless sentences in this new avatar. Expect to read more India centric thoughts, where the author will be looking forward to dissect the existing practices, un evident observations. Looking forward to write on first hand travel experiences in the subcontinent, providing a layman’s view on exploring India. As usual you are welcome to comment, advise, and criticize on any of these posts.

So hurray to more blogging, more life and even more blogging!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

June 4, 2009

Getting back at the Capitalists !!!!!!

The classification of first world, second world and third world is going to be in an upheaval once the economic meltdown comes to an end. The pride and prestige of modern economies like popular brands, latest technologies and smart brain power will be flowing into the growing economies of India, China and Brazil.

It is quite evident that we are witnessing phenomena of reverse imperialism taking place world over. The old world industrial masters and their expensive toys are in disarray and turmoil. It is not surprising when world over the industrial giants are shrinking and very few economies can boast about single digit growth rates, International brands and giants are up for sale.

So coming back to our topic of reverse imperialism, we are finally able to get back at the hundreds of years financial oppression and looting. We are able to stake our claims at their Kohinoor’s of wealth, we have been able to acquire giants like Jaguar and Land Rover, China is in the process of buying Hummer, what next. World over there is a stigma towards Chinese and to some extend even Indian Products. They were considered to be of lower quality and low on the trend index, now this condescending attitude will have to stop.

If the meltdown continues at this rate for few more years, I won’t be surprised to find a Brazilian Ferrari or an Indian Airbus. So where do we go from here, will India become the next global manufacturing hub adding to its profile of a cheap outsourcing destination. And when we are growing and they are shrinking will we be able to get ahead in the market size indexes.

The questions are many and yet we have very few answers, but the one definite outcome is a leveling of snobbish attitudes among the so called developed nations. This phenomenon was a necessity to level the human ego and start a new era of equal opportunities. The WTO should play a more constructive role in the new era and stop policing from mountain tops. We have to accept the fact that capitalism is not all picture perfect and better than the so called evil socialists. We should work towards a more adoptive economic system where the capitalists and socialists have an equal role to play.

When our local small scale industries were quashed by cheaper imports and self employed craftsman were left helpless, the globalization effect didn’t look evil to the capitalist masters. But when the incomparable manufacturing cost and cheap technical skills of our rising economies left hordes of people jobless in the developed world globalization has become evil perpetrators in their demise.

Iam not against the enterprising nature of humanity or the opportunistic ideas evolving world over, but there has to be constructive regulations in every society and the absence of it can lead to very dangerous scenarios. We are at a juncture where we should be responsible enough to mend our established norms and practices. Banking sector should not be lured by gains from ill mannered, short term instruments. They should be ethical enough to disclose all hidden terms and conditions rather than keep the customers in the dark. Lets hope for a brighter tomorrow a new day a new hope.
adios