Dense commentary on social media, PR, marketing, advertising and branding.
I had written about . Specifically on the use of QR codes in print advertisements as early as 2010 (by Ford) and as recently as early this month, by ITC. The use-cases haven’t really evolved – they end up showing something that…
We have ‘Uber for this’ and ‘Uber for that’, so why not an ‘Uber for cards’? That’s debit or credit cards! I came across two startups that promise precisely that. Both Circles (URL registered on June 16, 2019) and UseMyCards’ BuyHatke (URL…
This new packaging idea by KitKat in Japan is as adorable as it is intelligent! Nestlé Japan is moving from plastic packaging to paper packaging in Japan. But, instead of simply changing the material, they have also added an extra bit of…
Back in 2010, I noticed a QR code in a Ford Figo print ad and wondered what it leads to. See: Today, The Economic Times Mumbai edition has a front-page ad by ITC Hotels that also has a QR code with the…
As far as world-uniting ideas go, the Swatch Time remains my favorite. It’s audacious, but with a practical utility value that could potentially appeal to the entire world. Back in 1998, the Swiss watch company Swatch proposed a new way to approach…
I had written about 2 interesting brands last year. A Canadian device skin brand called dbrand that oozes abrasive attitude on social media (particularly Twitter) and stays on-character. See: A brandless brand that’s literally called ‘Brandless’. See: Here’s a combination of both…
There used to be many products that served us for a very long time, very well. Now, one single device—the smartphone—has made them redundant! For example, take the torch. I do have one at home but haven’t used it in many months/years….