The Maharashtra government's "counter sales" courses for the big retail chains have met with a huge success with the first batch of 2,000 students being completely absorbed by the industry.

Maharashtra govt`s `counter sales` course a big hit with retail chains

Business Standard

Future Bazaar India, an online retailing portal of the Future Group, is seeking advertising agencies to build a brand identity for its national mass media campaign.

Future Bazaar invites ad agencies for campaign

&nbsp;ADVERTISING: The agency is now among the top five in the region.
&nbsp;After facing rough weather for nearly two years in which it saw over 80 per cent of its work force leaving and businesses worth Rs 160-180 crore going to rivals, Mudra Delhi this year has clawed back into reckoning.

Mundra bounces back in Delhi market

Sales of imported chocolate brands, such as Mars and Snickers, have outpaced those of Cadbury's and Nestle's locally made chocolate in modern retail outlets, according to top retailers.

Cadbury`s, Nestle lose market share to imported chocolates

The total value of the belts market in urban India for the youth is estimated at Rs 840 crore a year.

KIT: The market for leather look-alike belts in India

BREAKING THE BAMBOO CEILING: CAREER STRATEGIES FOR ASIANS Author: Jane Hyun Publisher: Harper Collins Price: Rs 690 ISBN: 0060731222.

The top 10 business bestsellers

    A company came out with advertisements in 2004 to take credit for the turnaround performance of a company it took over. The ad copy read: _______ has gone from BIFR to BSE-30. Name both the companies.

The Strategist Quiz  (#051)

<OL>
<LI>Name the brand with which the following trademarked phrases are associated: Smart Planet, Smart Sleep, Smart Space and Smart Basics? Ginger Hotels.

Answers to last week`s quiz  (#050)

The institute is sure to figure in the top bracket on the FT MBA global rank list for B-schools after its executive programme completes three years in 2009.

IIM-A maps global pathway

P>Many may agree with me that we are living in some of the most unpredictable times in modern history.

Arvind Singhal: Managing unpredictability

Stiff competition in a highly fragmented market has led the domestic drug makers to depend on brand extensions rather than new product launches to corner a market share.

Pharma firms bank on brand extensions to boost growth

What I've Liked Kasam Se! 
In my last column, I spoke much about the outbreak of creativity in telecom advertisingthis time around it's about the drought of creativity in every other category.

A promise, Kasam se

&nbsp;As a slowdown looms, Indians remain optimistic, albeit cautiously so. 
&nbsp;It's the best of times, it's the worst of times.

Hope in the time of recession

International exposure and the opportunity to learn things not usually taught in a single institute make double degrees valuable.

Institutes, students take to dual degrees

&nbsp;Consumer confidence is at its lowest both in India and the world. 
&nbsp;Harry S Truman, the 33rd President of the United States, once said it was a recession when your neighbour lost his job, a depression when you lost yours.

Confidence under fire

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have decided to create more chairs in the institutes to help professors top up their salaries.

IITs, IIMs to reward professors with more faculty chairs

Forty-six per cent of global consumers put their spare cash in savings, up 4 percentage points in the last six months.

A time to save

&nbsp;Sixty-nine per cent of Indians cite inflation as their biggest concern. For the Chinese, too, it's the biggest worry.

Cost concerns

The total value of the wallets market in urban India for youth is estimated at Rs 555 crore a year.

KIT: The market for leather look-alike wallets*

    This company was the first to experiment with a female model as a brand ambassador for its campaign in an Islamic nation. &quot;The Jazz Girl&quot; concept which it introduced became something of a trend for other brands to follow. Name the company and the product.

The Strategist Quiz #052

Coca-Cola, the world's biggest beverage company, is expected to sell an energy drink in India by the year-end to gain from a growing demand for beverages in the country, sources, who declined to be identified, said.

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