Meeting Kanika

 This was only our second meeting, but it felt like it was the 500th.. or something like it. Just got along like a house on fire (is that the right analogy?) and went on yakking for about 5 hours over a Bahama Mama (Reminded me of my Bahamas trip in 1990 or so), a Margherita and various eats. She's a coffee drinker who sold tea for Goodricke, and had a stint with Mamaearth too, and plans to venture out in the Personal care category. Planning to bring her in for a guest talk to our MBA students. She's also my Personal Photographer, appointed for life. She volunteered for the job, and was instantly appointed.

Among the stories she told me, one stood out. A new employee in the marketing department was asked to write a brief for the ad agency. She asked Kanika, 'What's a brief?" Well,.. need I say more?  

Our last meeting was at India Habitat Centre, before COVID happened. Was surprised to know that she knows a lot of the 70s -early 80s films that were my favourites, such as Golmaal, Angoor, Chupke Chupke,... and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro.

Pics - 

On the right is the Bahama Mama, of which I have the recipe on a postcard picked up in the Bahamas. The pic below is the recipe, on a postcard I had picked up in the Bahamas, long ago.

and one more she clicked with a timer! Good skills!

Book Review- The Curious Marketer

This is a book by Harish Bhat, who has marketed many products in India. His experiences and observations are what it is about. A long time ago, I had read a similar book by Gurcharan Das which was based on his experiences with Vicks.

Very engagingly written, with each chapter only a few pages long, it is a very good read. Most of all, I liked the thoughts about new products that could be launched, based on observing trends- weight loss, for instance. I know Rujuta Diwekar has sold a few million copies of her book on the subject, and gyms have generally offered slimming packages  and raked it in.

He has a nice style which draws on his own experiences of marketing and advertising (and consuming) in India, and sometimes his experiences abroad -like wine-tasting in Austria. Many nuggets can be thought-provoking, if today's marketers are still in the habit of reading anything at all. The use of music, using babies in ads, and the trend of corporate 'suits' wearing colourful socks to compensate for their sedate (boring?) formals are some of the things I found interesting.