Cartoon Network, 9XM, BBC and AXN are among those channels gearing up to cash-in on the FIFA soccer mania.

Seeking to score a goal

Business Standard

The strategy of power branding, the art of identifying and backing a few strong products in a company's portfolio, has not always worked well with companies.

To do or not to do

It was wonderful last week to read about the prodigious feat of 14-year-old, home-schooled Sahal Kaushik in topping from Delhi in the JEE for IITs.

Arvind Singhal: The next Tagores and Ramans

This could be apocryphal but it surely is instructive. Half way through his first attempt at painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo suddenly disappeared for weeks. It left his team of painters befuddled, the church and the diocese in a state of panic as the deadline for opening the Chapel was approaching and the work not done. He returned weeks later, only to tear down all the work done till that date and start all over again.

Madhukar Sabnavis: Passion of a creator

India sees more than 5 million foreign tourist arrivals and over 560 million domestic tourists every year.

KIT: The Indian tourism industry

INQ Mobile, the subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa, has readied its first advertising campaign in India. INQ entered the Indian market in March 2010 with its social networking phones, INQ Chat 3G and INQ Mini 3G. The television campaign which broke on June 4 revolves around a photo shoot &mdash; as three models get ready, we see them actively using their phones to be on social networking sites.

INQ Mobile: INQ's deal

Zespri International, a New Zealand-based marketer of kiwifruit, has launched two varieties of the fruit in India, Zespri Green and Zespri Gold. However, only Zespri Green will be available here from May till September. Zespri Gold, its recent addition to the kiwifruit family, will come later. The kiwifruit company will not only do an off-season sale in India (as kiwifruit in New Zealand is grown from December to April), it is also looking to tap the marriage season here when exotic fruits are part of wedding gifts.

Zespri International: Kiwis are here

Paints giant AkzoNobel hopes to strengthen its Dulux brand in India through innovations and by expanding reach and capacity.

A fresh coat for dulux

Buoyed by demand from small towns, Home Shop 18, the 24-hour shopping channel from Network 18, is eyeing rapid growth.

Building a virtual mall

When Renault India&rsquo;s head of marketing, Gerald Porcario, completed his three-year stint in India a couple of weeks ago, he did not get the usual posting back to Paris or some Euro-zone market. Instead, he&rsquo;s headed for another non-European developing country on the specific understanding that he leverages the learnings from the &ldquo;super-complexities&rdquo; of the Indian market in his new bailiwick.

Indovation!

The entertainment house wants business not only from broadcasters but also from internet users, online gamers.

UTV goes bindaas; gets new logo, feel

Yum! Restaurants has extended the KFC brand beyond foods to cold beverages.

KFC has a Krush on India

Jugaad, this colloquial word, reflects the ingenious Indian mind that solves problems by hook or by crook. Entrepreneurial dhaba owners in Punjab use washing machines to churn buttermilk; huge pedestal fans are bought every wedding season to sprinkle rose water during weddings; and millions of users use their cellphones disappointingly only to send &lsquo;missed calls&rsquo;.

Welcome to Indovations

Dan Okpara had an urgent question for Coca Cola. He had consumed some Coca Cola but was keen to know the sugar content level in the beverage. He requested the company for an honest answer. Less than 45 minutes later, Coca Cola responded with the specific measurements of sugar in the drink. Okpara was relieved.

Social media altering role of brand managers

IIM Calcutta has launched the fourth batch of the Post Graduate Programme for Executives . The current batch has 44 students including 5 female students. The PGPEX course is divided into 7 semesters of approximately 7 weeks each. The first 3 semesters are for compulsory courses while the 4th, 6th and 7th semesters have elective courses wherein the students are entitled to enlist in 18 out of the 39 electives offered to them.

IIM-C commences  fourth batch of PGPEX

    This brand&rsquo;s baseline and rewards programme is called &lsquo;Enjoy the Ride&rsquo;.

Answers to last week's quiz (#151)

Institutes to resolve home-front issues before going international.

IIMs allowed to set up their own foreign campuses

After heading the financial product business of a Canadian company for four years, Tarun Mishra called it quits in 2003 to realise the dream he nurtured since graduation days at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B).

Living up to his IIT-Bombay dream

Around 18 students at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A)&rsquo;s post-graduate programme (PGP) 2010-12 batch may get to study without paying a single penny to the premier institute this year.

IIM-A may give 18 students fee waiver this year

    The idea for the name of this company came from a report on TV about football players taking ballet lessons to improve their balance and coordination. Identify the founder and the company.

The Strategist Quiz (#152)

Airline operators are making a beeline for Indian aviation academies. This follows the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA&rsquo;s) programme to phase out expatriate pilots working with Indian airline operators, giving rise to the demand for domestic pilots. Most airline operators have till July 31 to phase out expats from the cockpits.

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