| What I've liked "Plan B" "" it's that dreaded alternative that most good planners always have in their kitty, but hope they never have to resort to. But, it is invariably Plan B, as we so often discover, that is more successful than the original. Take the case of the current Pepsi TV ad playing on all the channels. Well, like the rest of the country they too invested great hopes in the Indian team and created the traditional "big" ad full of confidence and hope along with a slogan "World Cup ko la"! But then we all know what happened, and faced with slots to fill, they pulled out Plan B and created one of the best illustrations of turning adversity into opportunity with their "tailor ad" which perfectly captures the mood of the nation. Packaging the frustration of cricket fans in a humorous tongue-in-cheek story, the ad, in an admirably non-judgemental manner, makes light of the loss and echoes the sentiment running through everyone's heads "" "What the heck, at this rate even I can have a shot at the Cup!" What is clever about this approach is that even though it might be ironical, it could very well be true. Who knows four years down the line where our next World Cup hero will come from? In that sense, the ad throws the challenge at anyone who dares to pursue it. Yes, the invitation is out there, why even the uniforms are stitched; all it now needs is performance! |
| What I've learned What it takes to be responsible Dhirubhai's terms to the people from whom he used to borrow money during his initial trading days used to be "Profit is ours, loss is mine". It might have been his terms, but for me that is the ultimate example of being responsible "" admirably responsible "" for the job. Honestly, how many of us have the nerve to take responsibility for losses? Especially in business. It is always someone else's fault. Like in road accidents. It is faulty economy, trade laws, unscrupulous competition...you name it, the loss is never "ours". I remember an old friend, Bobby Sistas of erstwhile Sistas Advertising, now Saatchi & Saatchi, making an observation that whenever his agency lost a pitch, his team would always say that it wasn't their fault "" there was always an "X" factor, which was the villain! It reminds me of a tale from folklore of a guru who told his shishya to keep an eye on their bags while travelling by bullock cart. The shishya obeyed, to the letter. The guru looked back to see his shishya watching as their bags fell off. When questioned, the lad replied that he kept an eye but wasn't told to hold on to the bags! So the guru told him to pick everything that fell and soon the shishya was scooping up the dung of the bulls as well! Exasperated, the guru gave him a list of things to pick up and while the shishya was engrossed in reading it, the guru fell off. The shishya quickly consulted his list and saw that the guru was not on it and continued in full compliance of his master's orders! The point that I am trying to make here is that when a person is put in charge of a job, there is no demarcating line that stops him from completing it. The entire execution and everything that comes with it is his responsibility. No excuses there. Somehow we seem to believe that we are responsible only till we hit the first roadblock, after which the non-completion of the job is miraculously not our fault. The best part is that when you take responsibility for failure, you will be surprised to see the number of people who will volunteer to put you back on track and support you all the way. But to earn that, the first step is to admit it. agkbrandconsult@yahoo.com |
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