Race of the season

So I finally manage to post about something that the whole world knows and is talking about.

It was a great weekend at the best race track in tha calendar and the result was more in my favor than I could ask for. Not only did Kimi win the race in the Ferrari, but Fisichella in his Force India managed a second place without much sweat. In fact he was good for the win too if Kimi didnt have the KERS to keep him ahead.

I dont want to say much about the race and the result. Everyone already knows about it and has read reams of newsprint regarding it. All I want to say is: Thank You Dr. Mallya!

Posted via web from Countdown to the Indian Grand Prix

More about ads

It has been quite a while since I updated this blog of mine. But I have been a little busy with college activities, especially involving placements.

Anyways, I had one more though regarding ads and I though it is good enough to put it up here.

I had posted once earlier, that advertisements should carry the logos of the brands they are trying to advertise through the length of their ads. I would now like to take it a step further.

David Ogilvy, in his book 'Ogilvy on Advertising', says that all print ads should be signed by the writer himself. This will mean that there is additional responsibilty on the writer and the agency to write better ads and make sure every ad counts. I was wondering why this cannot be done for print ads. Imagine ads having a 2 second intro or conclusion credit giving the name of the agency which produced it. This way, the better your ads, the more your agency is known. For the brands, they now can be assured that the agency will make sure they do not put their names on ads which are not upto the standards.

This will help the viewers too. Lesser irritating, stupid ads which make no sense. This will bring in a lot of accountability to advertising is what I think. I know this might not be feasible and all the agencies will surely lobby against it. And when it boils down to it, who would make sure this is done? What governing body?

Anyways, do you think this will work?

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

Force India on Pole!

Nobody can believe it! GF is on pole position for the Belgium GP!

This pole is the result of an extremely quick car which was evident throughout the qualifying session. He was quickest in Q1 which is not a fuel dependent run and also 4th quickest in Q2 before taking pole in the dying seconds of Q3.

I hope all of you will be watching Force India take what can be their first podium finish. I really want them to win, but considering that this is the first time they have done so well, I am counting out the nerves and butterflies they would have built up in the past 24 hours.

I am with the Force! Are you?

Posted via web from Countdown to the Indian Grand Prix

Champions League Final Draw

Mouth Watering aint it?

Also, at the gala the following awards were announced:

Club Goalkeeper of the Year: Edwin van der sar
Club Defender of the Year: John Terry
Club Midfielder of the Year: Xavi Hernandez
Club Forward of the Year: Lionel Messi

Club Player of the Year: Lionel Messi

These awards were given based only on the UEFA Champions League 2008-09 matches.

Posted via email from Real Madrid

Genius Husband of the Year

via bspcn.com

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

Financial genius!

via dilbert.com

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

Wes and Van Der Vaart omitted from final pre-season

A sign that might force Sneijder to accept that he has to leave Madrid and move on to Milan, he was left out of the final pre-season match against Rosberg for the Santiago Bernebeau Trophy.

Sneijder has often insisted that he does not want to leave Madrid and will fight for a place among the high profile signings and the existing Guti and the Diarras. The Madrid midfield might look like Heathrow airport if coach Pellegrini employs a rotation policy, which however is highly unlikely.

In the tug of war between the player and the team, Sneijder has repeated his stance even after his exclusion. Speaking to Marca, he said, "I want to play for Real Madrid. The coach is counting on me and that is what motivates me. I will keep training like a proffessional so that the club sees that I want to stay". I think the whole world knows that you want to stay Wes.

Posted via web from Real Madrid

Its a silver European GP

As the topsy-turvy qualifying sessions continue, this time it was the silver McLarens which came out on top of everyone else once the dust settled. The Brawns needless to say are a close second.

However, the Brawns of RB (3rd) and JB (5th) are heavier than both the silver cars by almost ten Kgs. This means they can gain an advantage by pitting much later thanks to their heavier fuel load.

KR is the first of the Ferraris in 6th with his new teammate Luca Badoer (LB) down in last place.

The good news for Indian fans is that AS of Force India managed to reach Q2 and got a commendable 12th position for himself. His teammate GF is in 16th position.

Here is the final Qualifying result:

1. LH
2. HK
3. RB
4. SV
5. JB
6. KR
7. NR
8. FA
9. MW
10. RK
11. NH
12. AS
13. TG
14. Romain Grosjean (New Renault Drivier)
15. SB
16. GF
17. KN
18. JT
19. JA
20. LB

An exciting race ahead!

Posted via web from Countdown to the Indian Grand Prix

MISSING!!!

via bspcn.com

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

Yes, I am a geek

Yes, and I am proud to be one. No, I am not a nerd. Yes, I look like a nerd.

Yes, I love to read a lot. No, I hate to study. Yes, I am a gadget freak. No, I am not a dork.

Yes, I love libraries, I would love to own one someday. No, I don't spend my days there.

Yes, I read up on the net a lot. No, I don't chat online.

Yes, I love to write, a lot. No, I don't do it to show off.

Yes, I am a geek. No, I am not a good looking one.

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

Has India got THIS talent?

via youtube.com

This video is here ONLY for its brilliant execution! Awesome! :P

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

Affiliate Marketing Vs Ambient Advertising

I am to write a 2500 words White Paper on Affiliate Marketing for a competition. I hope that with the little experience I have of working in the internet industry, it will give me some kind of advantage.

The other topic is Ambient Advertising and even though advertising does attract my attention, I think I can do more justice to Affiliate Marketing. However, if I do choose Ambient Advertising, I guess I will learn a lot more about something I don't really know a whole lot about. But I think it is not that broad a topic in the first place.

Help?

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

Another Pre-season victory

Yes, Real Madrid has won another game. But whoever expected them to lose? I guess being Real, you can never say, but anyhow, it was a convincing 2-0 victory against Real Sociedad at their centenary celebrations.

The two goals were scored by the new Madridista Benzema and the soon to be Milanista, Sneijder. I like Wesley, I hope he does not have to leave. I liked most of the dutch players in Real. They seem like a genuinely hard working young men who really wanted to prove their capabilities. However, they couldnt really do a lot for the club last year. But is it unreal to ask so much of youngsters in their first season? Well, at Madrid it is not. You come to the best in the world, you better be one of the best.

So on to the next match at and against Borussia Dortmund on the 19th. You want to take a chance guessing?

Posted via web from Real Madrid

Put the logo throughout the length of an ad!

What would any brand lose if they put the brand name or the logo throughout the length of the ad. I can understand that initially you want to keep a level of suspense and keep the viewer guessing about what brand the ad is all about, but it just defeats the purpose. Are not ads meant to create high recall and make people buy the stuff when you eventually go shopping? But if you want to make more impact by keeping the user guessing and in the bargain losing out on recall in the clutter, what use is it?

I really do believe that the creative people would rather not have the logo throughout the length of the ad as then the user would know what would happen by the end of the ad and thus downplay the creativity of the copywriter. But, ads are not meant to satisfy the copywriter, it is meant to increase the sales and achieve stiff targets!

I recently saw an ad by 'Roca', a bath fitting brand, which had its logo throughout the length of the ad at the bottom corner. I now remember the brand better!

Is there any reason why one would not put the logo right at the beginning of the ad?

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

2012 Trailer - Mind Blowing!

via youtube.com

You HAVE to watch this in full screen HD!

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

Recession-Proof Graduate

via slideshare.net

This is an absolutely brilliantly written e-book. I can relate to most of what he says and really think he is making the most sense than a lot of people have in a really long time.

I know it is a bit longish for you impatient readers, but this is A MUST READ!

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

About okies, lolzz and more

All of us have chatted online. And all of us are familiar with the common chat lingo.

Me however, find some of the words in the lingo quite weird.

Let us start with okies. At first I though this is what people say when they want to say OK to multiple things. Like the plural form of OK. After all, OKs will sound like okies when u say it. BUT, that is not what it is meant for. All it means is OK! Yes, okies and OK are the same! I mean, COME ON! It makes sense if you shorten a particular word so that you make lesser keystrokes, but how does it make ANY sense to ADD three letters to two letter word! I often use 'k' instead of OK. But is it not this that the chat lingo is all about.

The next word in my hit list is lolzzz. WTH! What am I supposed to think when someone says lolzzzzzzzzz? Does it mean you were laughing out loud and then fell asleep? Did what I say make you laugh out of pity? If you want to say that you are laughing out louder, then you might as well say lmao or rofl or lmfao. But no, you use ONLY lolzzz. You will never, just for the sake of variety, use lol to show that you are maybe just giggling. And anyways, how many people are actually laughing out aloud when they say lol? If I actually laugh out loud everytime I say lol, my folks would think I have gone bonkers. Yes, I do say a lot of lol  and hehe and haha, but never lolzzzzz.

What is the deal with some people using '.....' after every thing they say? I can understand it if you say this when you mean to continue your point, but why would anyone say gnite.... and cya.... and tc.... and ..... after every freaking thing they type? It just does not make sense!

The really excited people type '!' everytime before they press enter. Here is an illustration:
abc: watsup!
me: nm...wassup?
abc: nm! u temme!
me: i just told you
abc: ohh! lolzzzz!
me: so wat you doing?
abc: tp!
me: done with your project?
abc: no! i m bored!
me: hmmm
abc: you done?!
me: almost...but ll take more time
abc: cool!
do we have anything else to do?!?!
me: i dnt think so
abc: nice! i m reallly bored ya!!!

Now please do not tell me all of those statements are supposed to have an ! at the end.

Then there are the obsessive smiley users. They know all the smileys ever programmed into any chat client and they are not afraid to use it. They have a smiley for every mood and every reply that they send. All this is fine as it helps you gauge the expression of the other person, but they are not always the right smileys! How obsessed can you get?

There are many more but I would rather leave them for you to comment on. Please add on to this list by weird chatters, it can be you as well!

Posted via email from Aditya's Blog

My Starting XI

This formation assuming Robben is sold.

Posted via email from Real Madrid

Mi tercer blog!

That means My third blog.

And there is a good reason why it is in espanyol. This blog is about football and Real Mardid, which is a spanish club and hence the spanish title.

So let me see how updated I can keep this one :)

P.S. Given that not many of my acquaintances are fans of Real Madrid ( and I know this because I am a fan for almost ten years now), I will try and put general footie news here as well. Assuming some of you actually read this.

Posted via web from Real Madrid

Enlightenment

I have realised

1. 90% of people don't work unless told to
2. People generally don't care about anything but themselves
3. Responsibilty is something that everyone is SCARED of
4. People will never own up to their own mistakes
5. There are two kinds of people - those who will be more careful about their own stuff than the stuff they borrow and those who take more care of borrowed stuff than their own stuff
6. People generally have a bad attitude
7. Everyone who thinks they are better than others are generally not
8. Everyone who thinks everyone else is better than them is also generally wrong
9. Not everyone wants to chart a path for others to follow (Why would anyone not want to do this?)
10. I think too much about all this

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

Johnnie Walker short film about its branding

via reflectionof.me

A brilliant one shot film on the Keep Walking idea. As good as a 6 minute case study on branding.

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog

Airtel Vs Vodafone 2

I had posted earlier about the Airtel ads and how they are similar to the Vodafone ads.

I have seen a few more from the Airtel campaign, and I have to say, I don't get it! Why would Airtel risk doing something like this?

The ads look similar to Vodafone, they don't look anything like the other Airtel ads, and the most noticable thing in Airtel ads - the music - does not come in until the last 5 seconds! So, how is it helping the ads stay in the viewer's mind?

Usually, an ad can be associated with a particular brand, if there is the usual peculiarity. Like the music in case of the telecom ads. All of them a peculiar music of their own which have become popular in their own right. However, Airtel (which incidentally has the most popular of these, thanks to A R Rehman), is just ruining it. The least they could have done was flashed the Airtel logo at the beginning itself. Most brands like to keep the viewer guessing about the brand, but in most of these cases they get it wrong. They would be better off by showing the brand earlier on and showing it a couple of more times by the end. Especially in this case where people are confusing it to be a competitor's ad!

Come on Airtel! You can do better!

Posted via web from Aditya's Blog