When his bat hits the ball these days, the latter usually disappears into the crowds. At 23, Virat Kohli is raring to go, and brands have been quick to exploit this quality, rooting for him regardless of the fact that he endorses 11 products already.

Brand Virat set for a huge score

Business Standard

&ldquo;It is shameful I haven&rsquo;t been to India in the last 25 years,&rdquo; says Kevin Roberts, the worldwide chief executive officer of Saatchi &amp; Saatchi, who is also the author of the best-selling advertising &amp; marketing manual Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands. In the last eight years since its release, Lovemarks has sold millions of copies and is available in 20 different countries. It has also made Roberts an international star, helping his agency, of which he has been the global CEO for the last 15 years, predicate its work on this philosophy.

Saatchi starts new innings

Italian brand Roberto Cavalli plans to invade store shelves in India soon. It has partnered with Infinite Luxury to get a toehold in the luxury market in India.

Riding the luxury wave

The economic slowdown seems to have taken the steam out of entrepreneurship &mdash; at least in the campuses of premier business schools.

Entrepreneurship bug lies low at B-school campuses

Sandeep Sethi, a senior real-estate marketing professional, was blown away by the experience during his first visit to the Audi store at Mathura Road, New Delhi. The showroom was spacious, which made him feel comfortable, and he could easily cruise through the store without encountering any roadblocks. The various models were neatly displayed, and help was at hand in case he needed to clear any doubt. He was thoroughly impressed by the professionalism.

It's all about the experience

Jewellery is one of life&rsquo;s luxuries. And India&rsquo;s romance with jewellery is legendary. Unlike other consumer categories, the luxury segment in jewellery is not an alien concept in India. Earlier, it was restricted to the blue-blooded and international luxury brands. Today, the clientele for luxury jewellery has increased and many Indian jewellery players have entered the market as well. Traditional manufacturers have floated their brands to rival luxe ones from abroad.

Glittering prospects

Luxury is dichotomous, conflicted and conflict-creating by its very nature. &lsquo;Luxuria&rsquo; is Latin for &lsquo;lust&rsquo;, the first in the list of the Seven Deadly Sins. The British poet Edith Sitwell is quoted as saying, &ldquo;Good taste is the worst vice ever invented.

Back to the roots

Defying negative market sentiments, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) saw all the major firms from sectors like finance, investment banking and consulting recruiting students from the 2010-12 batch of the flagship post graduate program (PGP) in large numbers.

IBM top recruiter at IIM-A placements

Timex Group India Ltd, a subsidiary of the US-based watch maker Timex, is bullish on the Indian luxury market. In this interview to Alokananda Chakraborty, VD Wadhwa, managing director &amp; CEO, Timex Group India, speaks about the huge opportunity waiting to be tapped. Excerpts.

Luxury never goes out of demand: V D Wadhwa

Talk of luxury, and the discussion can turn heated. This is, largely due to the positions that we take; not because we are like that but due to several paradigms, prejudices and biases we carry. After all, we are human; what if we hold a position of a head of business or its owner. We react almost instantaneously and with force when these are challenges by someone. Again, very human. It can be sometime become animalistic, simply because we are animals; social animals.

Luxury, as we do know it

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The top 10 business bestsellers

    &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t pay good wages because I have a lot of money; I have a lot of money because I pay good wages&rdquo;.

The Strategist Quiz (#246)

The attraction for management, engineering and pharmacy colleges seems to be fading quickly, as they are coming forward to seek permission for their closure. Academicians point two reasons for this. First is the mushrooming of management schools which poses a challenge for schools to get quality manpower. The second is a lack of industry academia relationship which is resulting in the challenge of good placements.

Twenty institutes in northwest region seek permission for closure

Unless it went straight to the junk box, it is unlikely that you would have missed Salman Khan&rsquo;s email Holi wishes this year. No, it wasn&rsquo;t an attempt to hardsell his latest movie, rather it was part of a message meant to promote Revital - the health supplement brand that Bollywood&rsquo;s leading actor started endorsing recently.

Revital gets a booster dose

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to interview Neel (a.k.a Indraneel Hariharan), the bass guitarist / vocalist of the contemporary music band Mrigya (www.mrigya.com). At that time, they had not yet cut an album, nor were they interested in doing so. They liked to rove around the country (and world) and do gigs for audiences, new and old, live. They still do. I remember asking Neel at that time (although I highly doubt he remembers me, or the question), why they didn't have an album out. His answer was that they were there to use their music to connect with their audiences. And there was no substitute to establishing that very real, very electric connection than at a live concert. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re performing artists, not recording artists,&rdquo; he emphasized. &ldquo;And it doesn't matter if our music is being experienced by a handful of people or thousands of them. As long as they are engaged enthusiasts. And our music engages them.

Is your brand a performing artist? 

My septuagenarian uncle was in a fury. His credit card company had made a mistake in its billing and was being obtuse about rectifying the error. But that wasn&rsquo;t what infuriated him most. It was an explanatory letter from said company that addressed him as &ldquo;Dear Rajat&rdquo;.

Kanika Datta: What's in a name?

Manipal University has set itself a new task &mdash; to establish five large universities in India in the next five years. While the ones in Jaipur and Bangalore will take shape soon, the group is looking at setting up two more in the eastern and western regions of the country. That's a big leap from the two universities it has in India at present.

Manipal University in expansion mode

To be an effective entrepreneur, management students need to have holistic experience, says Harsh C Mariwala, Chairman &amp; Managing Director, Marico Limited.

Experience must for new entrepreneurs, says Mariwala

As the number of bad loans are increasing, banks need to seek some measures for respite. By rating B-school students, banks can accordingly fix terms and conditions for them as well as track down the particular student&rsquo;s performance. Thereby they can analyse students&rsquo; future ability to repay loans.

Students' corner

One a hard-boiled negotiator at ease with complicated legalese, and the other a French aesthete. What can possibly draw together two such completely bipolar individuals? But Rabindra Jhunjhunwala and Clement Derock are both deeply aware of the equity of goodwill that comes with one&rsquo;s heritage, legacy and roots.

Branding a centurion law firm

By his own admission, Rajiv Bajaj was in all kinds of trouble in 2008 &mdash; three years after he took over as managing director and CEO of Bajaj Auto. The company had a string of failures with the XCD, Caliber and Wind. It hurt even more because the company had always prided itself on being a market leader.

Page 808 - News