Back in the late Nineties, when the internet was just taking baby steps in our country, there was one annual ritual that we strictly adhered to: Buying/renewing the antivirus software for our family PC. After all, we didn&rsquo;t want it to catch a virus from the unknown &mdash; aka the internet.

An umbrella of security for all smart devices

Business Standard

Having spent a long time in this profession, I have tried to create many ideas on many brands that may have added value to the life stage and growth of those brands. &lsquo;Yeh Hai Youngistaan Meri Jaan&rsquo; for Pepsi, &lsquo;Aamsutra&rsquo; for Slice, &lsquo;Yaari Ki Gaadi&rsquo; for Hero, &lsquo;Dil Jo Chahe, Paas Laaye&rsquo; for Airtel and the latest &lsquo;What Makes Us Click&rsquo; for Canon Powershot cameras.

'Which generation doesn't want to tell its story'

Should a firm organise all its market offerings under the common umbrella brand name (for instance, Tata) or should it maintain a portfolio of independent brands (Fanta, Sprite, Kinley, etc. by Coca Cola)? What is the right approach? The truth is somewhere in between and the classical answer is &lsquo;it depends&rsquo;. The brand must add value to the marketing effort and if it does, it makes sense to use an umbrella brand. The brand &lsquo;Dove&rsquo;, when it appears on a bottle of body lotion or shampoo, communicates certain ideas about the product. The name &lsquo;Johnson &amp; Johnson&rsquo;, when it appears on a bottle of baby oil or a pack of ear buds, carries positive associations and the customer is prepared to pay a premium for it. These are cases where the umbrella brand has added value. There is a leveraging effect of the brand; a premium for the product obtained and brand is strengthened. But this need not be the case always.

'The shift towards umbrella branding is inescapable'

The highly competitive Generation Y presents great opportunity to the HR manager with its need for constant learning and the ability to multitask.

Learn to manage the millennials

When a brand is small, it is easy to have control over quality.

To be a leader, you have to be ready to support failure: K. Ramakrishnan

Not only do customers differ from employees, they also dramatically differ from one another.

Dealing with chaos

The Strategist looks at the recent experiences of TataDoCoMo and Bajaj Auto to check if the textbook assumptions about umbrella versus multiple branding stand true on the ground.

One versus many

US-based Carlson, now known as the Carlson Rezidor group, started operations near the Delhi airport with its four-star property Radisson in 1998. Fourteen years later, it has become the fourth largest group in terms of room inventory in the country, according to a study done by HVS.

Carlson to focus on mid-market

Trust Research Advisory (TRA), a part of communications and media services provider, Comniscient Group today launched its third edition of the annual Brand Trust Report (BTR). The report that claims to list 'India's most trusted brands' has crowned Nokia, Samsung and Sony with the ultimate honour of being the top three trusted brands.

Global brands rule the 'trust' roost

HATCHING PLANS Need your help in deciding upon a hatchback that my company is buying for me. Here are the facts of the case: The car will be bought in MumbaI. The budget is Rs 3.75 lakh

Palio-lithic

WHICH OFF-ROADER? I want to buy a MUV/SUV for personal and commercial use and my budget is around Rs 5 lakh. I have a few vehicles in my mind, like the

Real deal

SUVs, MUVs, APVs, MPVs... if you thought you had heard all possible acronyms meet the FUT. Chrysler's Flexible Utility Truck might just be a concept, but look carefully and you will spot lines and

Glad to meet you

Better icon

We all know that fashion intelligence is not judged by an aptitude test or by a format set by a fashion institute. Then what is it that gives us a bearing on where we stand in terms of our

Fashion check

Best D-eal?

I am planning to buy a new petrol car for my use for driving in the city in the price range of Rs 8 to 9 lakh. Please let me know which car and variant I should buy for good driving comfort and affordable maintenance, too.

City lights

In cricket, 99.94 has been an unattainable batting average since Bradman retired in 1948. In chess, the equivalent high rating has changed several times.

Chess (#1030)

Fifteen years ago &mdash; a lifetime in Indian art, according to some &mdash; Amrita Jhaveri started collecting modern and contemporary art somewhat more seriously than most, becoming one of the earliest specialists with a calibrated eye for picking art works that represented the best of each generation&rsquo;s artists.

Pick of the lots

At a time when Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson are among the most revered and highly compensated athletes in the world, it&rsquo;s easy to forget that professional golf was once considered the province of rogues and ruffians, its reputation shadowy enough that in the late 1950s Jack Nicklaus seriously considered remaining an amateur.

Mud in the greens

Every time a fast bowler appears on the Indian cricket scene, there&rsquo;s a sense of anticipation &mdash; will he be the &ldquo;genuine&rdquo; quick bowler that India has been looking for? As many as 24 fast bowlers have played Test cricket for India since Kapil Dev retired in 1994. Of these, only three &mdash; Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma &mdash; have taken 100 or more wickets. It&rsquo;s a sorry statistic for which you can blame injuries, inconsistency or simply that these players were, perhaps, not good enough at the international level. Here are some of the fast bowlers who&rsquo;ve now faded into obscurity.

Not so fast, not so furious

The current financial year has been quite tough for Tata Motors and its fortunes. Losing market share and market position, Tata Motors is desperately looking at alternatives, especially from its current stable of cars to stem the tide. And it has a whole bunch of variants lined up over the next year or two.

Fair and square

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