Ha Mac!

I had to post this link for all those who think Apple is evil.

Mac sales are booming: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/05/22/where-in-the-world-are-mac-sales-growing-everywhere/?iid=HP_LN

As my techie friends like to say "People (read techies) hate Apple because they cant crack the applications?!" I don't know how true that is but at my work place, the guys who hate Apple are those who are sick of seeing the brand getting assimilated in people's daily lives. I don't believe in a evil brand or a bad brand just because it has become part of almost every human's life. Integration with your life is what a brand manager wants for his/her brand. For you to not be able to do without it.

Well! If usage were a bad thing the Charmin' would be DRACULA! I am totally dependent on my Pepsodent, Bath and Body Works, my Kinley, my Tetley tea....so I don't think it's a bad thing really. For me...it's hope for any brand I work on, now and in future, to become a complete part of someone's daily habit or lifestyle.

It gives me an adrenaline rush every day. To find new ways for those consumers to pick my brand. To buy my brand. To choose me!

And as long as this loyalty exists, so will we marketeers!

So here's to Brand Loyalty...now and forever!

About different songs....

There's something about this song that makes it one of my favorites now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HXwIVuBI6w - LOSER LIKE ME cover sung by Glee Cast in Season 2

Do men really rule the world?

I was reading a very interesting article this morning which appeared on the bbc webpage under the business section. The COO of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg, recently spoke to the all female students of Barnard University in New York. The basic summary was down to one question: "What if half the men in the world ran households and half the women ran companies?" Her answer, which may be mistaken for a joke just like her question rings true for me "The world would be a better place".

I was mighty impressed with the article and the speech given by probably one of the most powerful women under 45 in the World. Her speech which was peppered with her own experiences in an all male technology and IT sector rings close to home for most of us women who are working probably twice as hard for as much recognition.

In India it gets tougher. Markets may have opened up and we may be all about the "new young India" but most of it seems directed towards the male population of this country. How many women reach or manage to reach the senior management in this country? How many have the support of their families to such an extent that they can take 5 days off suddenly to travel for work without the guilt of leaving their home, kids, etc. behind. I doubt it if men really come home and seek permission to do the same?

It is sad that even at the work place women still struggle. Companies talk of giving equal opportunities but can look at an unmarried woman in her late 20s with skepticism. The "golf club" rarely allows women into it. Try joining them and you may be looked at as an outcast and it will take you forever to break the ice and get them to talk to you they probably will with your all male PA.

Of course this isn't the case everywhere. My previous employer had a practically all female marketing team across every one of the offices and regions...which was unique and phenomenal. It wasn't a planned effort or idea either, it just happens that they are willing to hire intelligent women,single or not without looking at them as "female" and rather as smart individuals who suit the role and the job!

But I am hopeful.With many young women like me entering the workforce and changing things, I hope that soon the cultural dynamic will change. That the very idea or thought of "men ruling the world" will cometo an end. It will then be an equal opportunity working world!

Read Links: http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/18/technology/sandberg_barnard/index.htm?source=cnn_bin&hpt=Sbin

Alcohol and Women

Has India finally accepted its urban affluent female population to be of the drinking variety? Has the alcohol market actually seen a shift in paradigm as far as consumption pattern of alcohol (any kind) is concerned?

I work in the alcohol industry and almost daily we have conversations about the changing (very slow) pattern in the consumption of liquor in this country,amongst women. While many researches, studies and surveys over the years have shown that the region where you come from, socio - economic strata and finally, age, have been the determining forces in alcohol consumption amongst the fairer sex; new reports reveal the change in these dynamics. The average age of female consumer in this industry has supposedly seen a drop in the last decade. Initiation into drinking now happens between the ages of 16 - 18 amongst urban females, though the average age group is higher than that among men, is seeing a steep rise.

Surprisingly according to some, as women get older, their consumption patterns drop. This has been attributed to motherhood, family and other responsibilities that come attached with the same amongst Indian women.

Beer and women have a, may I say, love-hate relationship in India. Women love to hate beer or so I have heard all these years growing up. the concept of the ever frightening beer belly creeping up on you like a shadow you didn't know existed, scares the day light out of women in this country.

With the advent of new technologies which have given youth a medium to explore the world and actually enact out the goings on from different parts of the world, beer, vodka, booze - are not taboo words anymore. It is ok to have a beer, glass of wine or a drink post a long day at work. It is normal to have a drink or two at the local pub or night club on weekends. Considering weekends now technically begin on Thursdays, this has made consumption go on for longer periods of time.

The alcohol industry too associates the fun life with itself. Any brand worth its salt has in its lifetime sponsored parties, DJ nights and other such activities to get its brand tasted and tried by this new emerging market. India is the youngest consumer market with one of the highest growing spending powers in the world. It obviously then makes sense to go after this open, free willed group of youth, who want to try out the best in life.

Things have changed today. From the day when it was considered a crime for a woman to buy alcohol, to ordering test tube shots...India has come a long way. The trend reports indicate that this female consumer market is only going to grow. Either it will be through the number of women getting added and/or by the amount of consumption going up.

Here's to the modern pub!