The Strategist Quiz (#503)

The Strategist Quiz, March 23, 2017

1. This nearly 400-year-old company was founded in Constantinople in the 17th century. The founder was an alchemist looking for a way to turn base metal into gold; he created an alloy combining tin, copper and silver into a sheet of metal that could make musical sounds without shattering. His company moved from manufacturing noisemakers that frightened the enemies of the Ottoman Empire to manufacturing __ as musical instruments in the 19th century. It is now a US-based company. Name it.

2. Name this department of a large company that is making an online tool that uses artificial intelligence to vet millions of online comments to prevent trolls, denial of service attacks and flooding a website with garbage traffic. It gets its name from the English word (a part of it) that means rapid up and down movement.

3. This person was a college dropout with big ideas about products that would reshape human behaviour. When a giant competitor, also a supplier, came up with a knock-off of his most popular product, he went to court and won a record-breaking patent settlement. He was Wall Street’s darling and also a secret/non-secret adviser to the government. He catalysed the deal to build the U-2 spy plane, and long supervised the building of America’s increasingly sophisticated spy satellites. Name him.

4. Which brand’s official blog is titled “Unbottled”?

5. In the early 90s, which publication played a leading role in exposing Jordan Belfort, the crooked Long Island stockbroker depicted by Leonardo Di Caprio in The Wolf of Wall Street?

6. This English novelist and travel writer whose best known works are In Patagonia and the Songlines gave the name to a legendary luxury brand that is manufactured by a company listed on the Italian bourse. Name it.

7. Who coined the slogan, “Roti, kapda, makaan, bijli aur bandwidth”?

8. Connect Hrithik Roshan, Sonam Kapoor and the Indian cricket team with a brand and which one do you arrive at?

9. What is the term to describe a technique used by a company to support its wholesaler or distributor’s sales force by deputing an employee?

10. The image is the coat of arms of a city in France with monuments dating back to the Roman Empire. A commodity that derives its name from this city has a global market size of approx. $60 billion. An Indian firm is the world’s third largest manufacturer of the same.

Compiled by Gaurav Sri Krishna, www.facebook.com/gaurav.s.krishna

One lucky winner will receive a cheque for Rs 2,000. Send your entries to strategist@bsmail.in. All entries must carry the postal address of the contestant. Last date for receiving entries: March 24 till 8 pm. Previous winners and employees of Business Standard and their families are not eligible to participate. 

The winner is chosen on the basis of the first correct entry received.

There were two correct entries to quiz No 502. The winner is Gayatri S from Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh)