Novelty Follows Loyalty

Just like a relationship guru would advice a couple who've celebrated more than 3 anniversaries on 'how to bring back that spark in their relationship', I think there are marketing gurus who think not much differently.

The other day, I was browsing through a local Sarvodaya and was intrigued by variants of some familiar brands.

Close Up Flavilicious

First reaction - flavi-wtf? Whatever! Being a 'connoisseur of brands', I had to pick it up and play guinea pig for the marketers and the greater good of humankind. The Close Up folks have come out with 2 'limited edition' flavored toothpastes - Luscious Lychee and Tangerine Burst. I've started using the Tangerine, and quite like it in the mornings, but I prefer the classic Red before bed. Lychee is too err... pink for me to even look at the box. Will leave it for the sis. And if you are someone from Unilever reading this, I have some suggestions - how about a chocolate flavor?!

Some interesting observations about the packaging and the product:

• The brand is seemingly so well established, that besides in the textual description, there is no mention of the word 'toothpaste' on the box!
• There's a 'do not swallow' instruction :) Hehe. Good advice, since you may forget it's toothpaste!

Taj Mahal Dessert Teas

'Pamper Yourself', says the ad campaign. And indeed, this serious competitor to the cafe mocha makes friends with your taste buds - as soon as you've had your first sip. Priced at Rs.40 for 5 sachets, it comes at a premium, but one that I wouldn't mind paying for. It's still cheaper than a cappuccino and most importantly - I would give it a 10 on 10 on the brand+product experience, which begins at the very sight of the packaging. Housed in a very well designed triangular carton are 5 triangular pod sachets. The box opens easily, so do the sachets. And all it takes is adding a cup of hot water to make yourself a sinful cup of dessert tea. I had picked up the vanilla flavor, and it was definitely better than I had expected. Rich and creamy, without an iota of artificial taste - perfectly blended. Highly recommended (by a self proclaimed tea lover)!

Mumbai Domestic Airport - The Wow! Experience

I'm in the field of design and user experience, and people sometimes need to be explained what the latter means. Let me start by saying that design is perhaps a subset of user experience. Marketing could also be a part of the user experience as a whole, besides design. To make things simpler, let me use this post to rave about the Mumbai domestic airport experience.

If you remember the domestic airport as a shoddy place where everything was dirty and chaotic, you obviously haven't been there lately. The lower terminal is brand spanking new and has a slick, futuristic design, completely spic and span. From the moment you enter, there's a sense of vast open space, very well lit. Hallways have trees planted along with a seating desk. Tons of seating space in fact. Clean loos, a cyber cafe, some great snack counters, Crossword bookstore, Cafe Coffee Day, Stop and Go (a mini Shoppers Stop), really swanky lounges - it's great to see a transformation from a filthy airport to a wow experience!

Essentially it's not just a great looking place only, but also a completely new, richer experience for everyone.

Peace on arrival

What's more, you'll be in for a pleasant surprise on arrival in Mumbai - no more getting 'taken for a ride' by the cabs and rickshaw drivers with excess fare demands. Every person who gets into a cab or rick is now given a handy leaflet which has both rate cards printed! This my dear readers, is what great user experience is all about. Understanding what users need, want and expect - and soliciting a wow! reaction. Naturally, I can't wait to fly next!

Finding Heaven in Sin City

In a world and time where we're sinning everyday, it's a great thing to experience heaven. And I just found 2 shortcuts to heaven in these divine Godsent products...

1. Pepperidge Farm Milano Double Chocolate

Imagine - rich dark chocolate gently wrapped between a layer of crunchy buttery tender cookies. A lethal combination which was designed to seduce the taste buds into succumbing to the sinful.

I should stop desribing these cookies before Blogger bans me for 'erotic literature on a personal blog' or something.

2. Emborg Danablu Danish Blue Cheese

My Bangalore friends know very well of my intense passion for blue cheese. Especially the Sunny's Special Blue Cheese salad (Sunny's, Lavelle Road). To be honest it's difficult to write about blue cheese. Because it's not the usual "wow that's yummy!" food. You have to really savour it. Slowly. You start with a teeny little helping, forget about worldly things and experience it tickle your taste buds. Here's how I would describe the 3-stage reaction of a person tasting it for the first time...



* Yeeoow - smells like (insert gross word)
* Crinches nose, gets curious
* "Hmmmmmmm...."
* "...ummmmmmmm....."
* The world stops spinning. The tongue doesn't. Experiences nirvana.

So there. That's how you can get as close to heaven as possible while continuing to let your pot of bad karma overflow.

Now I've been dying to find a good store which keeps blue cheese in Mumbai but had failed so far. So when last week I was in Mulund and finally found it at the Shoprite store at Nirmal Lifestyle - I almost cried and thanked my heavens.

Defining Virgin territory

Sometimes you don't need to be a marketing guru to predict brand moves. So when I was confidently talking to my friend some weeks back that the Virgin Group would somehow manage to enter into the Mobile & VAS space in India (which was just announced), I had very little doubt and more conviction.

The Virgin brand
It's simple. Virgin is one of the smartest, savviest and most agile brands around the world, cutting through insane number of businesses and owning more than 300 brands. They believe in the potential of a market and get there eventually. From whatever I've observed about them (brand Virgin, Sir Richard Branson and the whole group), I'd say they have a simple credo: Any space is virgin (and they capitalize on it, pardon the pun!) if you really listen to customer needs, pain poins and create a vibrant brand to market the solution and create value for the customer even in a fiercely competitive environment. (And create passionate evangelists like me who don't get paid jack shit for talking about them!)

In fact I'm a big fan of Virgin and Branson's way of doing business - so I'm only too happy to see them spread across sectors in India. In case you haven't caught the drift, here's a quick summary of their India presence (to the best of my knowledge).

• Virgin Atlantic (airline) - connects Mumbai and Delhi to London
• Virgin Comics (comics) - Branson + Shekhar Kapur + Gotham Chopra + Sharad Devarajan
• Fever 104 FM (radio) - A joint venture between Virgin Radio and Hindustan Times
• The Mobile Store (retail) - Joint venture with Essar Group
• Virgin Mobile (mobile) - Proposed 50:50 venture with Tata Teleservices
• Virgin Galactic (space travel!) - A collaboration with Deluxe Travel and GD Goenka World Travel [Updated as of 16 Oct, 2007]

... and the list will go on. What I'm willing to put my pennies on? Virgin Hot Air Balloons! Please, oh please get them to locales like Ladakh/Kerala/Munnar or something! More about Virgin here.