The tag line for the new festive season campaign launched by Reliance Trends says &lsquo;sirf dikhne me mehenga&rsquo;, (it&rsquo;s expensive only by its looks). That just about sums up the brand strategy of the three-year old department chain of Reliance Retail.

Reliance trends: Holding the middle ground

Business Standard

Image artist Wally Olins has handled marquee brands such as LVMH, Coca Cola, Visit London, the Royal Opera House, East Timor Development Agency, and now brand West Bengal. In an interview with Namrata Acharya and Ishita Ayan Dutt, the Saffron Brand Consultants Chairman talks about how he plans to align reality and perception about the state - his first such assignment in India.

Q&A: Wally Olins, Chairman, Saffron Brand Consultants

Top ecommerce portal eBay is doing it all for sales promotion: from holding special charity auctions to launching new commercials. So if you want to work out with Salman Khan or get a chance to lunch with Amitabh Bachchan, just log on to the online marketplace and start bidding.

Shop, but don't drop

Halloween, the trick-or-treat celebration for children and adults alike, is almost here (October 31). And, Indian gaming companies are readying new frightful-and-yet-fun-filled offerings to send a chill down the gamer&rsquo;s spine. The move is designed to attract more subscribers, especially from the US, and the advertising money that accompanies them.

Gaming firms add frightful fun to Halloween!

S N Krishna makes one big purchase every Diwali. Last year, the 67-year-old resident of Noida bought a car &mdash; he paid for it during Navratra but took delivery only on Dhanteras. This year, he plans to replace the small refrigerator with a larger one. Why now? It&rsquo;s an auspicious time to make a big purchase, for one. &ldquo;My father also feels that, this being the off-season for fridges, he will get a better deal!&rdquo; laughs his son, Piyush Pushpak, 27. The young man, however, does not subscribe to his father&rsquo;s belief in Diwali shopping. &ldquo;I shop through the year,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;This year, the only new clothes I have until now are the ones my parents have gifted me.

The buy factor

Skoda gives its hatchback some minor tweaks... and a major engine.

A mightier heart

No spelling bee jokes, curry references or outsourcing comments.

Stars in their own right

I am confused between the Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 VXi and the A-Star LXi.

A-Star crossed

The badlands of UP are the locale of choice on screen.

Move over, sarson ke khet

Camera nahin laaye?&rdquo; asks the security guard at the main gate of Sports Authority of India&rsquo;s (SAI) Devi Lal Sports Centre in Sonepat district, about 40 km from Delhi. News channels have been thronging this mecca of Indian wrestling in the last few days and so the security guard is a bit surprised to see a journalist sans a camera, tripod and the works. He is aware that the Commonwealth Games are on and that wrestlers from nearby villages have achieved something but isn&rsquo;t surprised. &ldquo;Every kid here wants to become a wrestler,&rdquo; he says matter-of-factly. This SAI centre has become the talking point after the CWG as this is where the Indian wrestlers trained before their record haul of 19 medals out of the 21 on offer.

Gold dust

The 2010 Formula One season is all set for a photo finish.

A close-run championship

KBC has acquired a new hue this season, says Suveen K Sinha, one that reflects the aspirations of small-town India.

Lock, stock and Hindi

The world is again singing paeans to Sachin Tendulkar. Well deserved as they are, after his two fantastic innings in Bangalore to go with the 98 in the first innings at Mohali, let&rsquo;s spare a thought for Cheteshwar Pujara.

Time to switch off the flash

Raju Bharatan offers a look behind the scenes of the old world of Bollywood music.

'This Kishore lad is no singer, I tell you'

He may have died eight years ago, but Dhirubhai Ambani is the biggest role model for the Indian youth. His journey from rags to untold riches has fired millions of dreams. The common man thinks of him as &ldquo;one of us&rdquo; &mdash; a homegrown genius who became a legend in his own lifetime. &ldquo;If Ambani could do it,&rdquo; ask any young, dreamy-eyed man on the street and he will say, &ldquo;why can&rsquo;t I?&rdquo; Businessmen are no longer ashamed to say that Ambani is their idol. His faith in large-scale operations, his ability to spot opportunities in situations that look impossible, makes him the most daring Indian businessman of all times. What others took ages to build, Ambani accomplished in a few short years.

Kings of the Licence Raj

In his path-breaking research on the ratings of chess-players, Arpad Elo discovered something that made intuitive sense. Talented young players don't increase smoothly in strength. Their ratings can suddenly jump several levels. Then they lose ground or plateau, before making another abrupt jump. A good example is Ian Nepomniachtchi, who has swung past 2700 after nearly two years of stagnation at low 2600-levels.

CHESS #649

It is not difficult to link 43-year-old Jay Singh and&nbsp;brands like Hard Rock Caf&eacute; (HRC), Shiro and California Pizza Kitchen (CPK). Casually dressed in blue denim, shirt sleeves rolled up, the master franchise owner&rsquo;s weekday business attire and indeed his business strategy says a lot about why he chose these brands to be run under JSM Corporation &mdash; a joint venture with co-founder and business partner Sanjay Mahtani.

'Rock'-ing on

How many people would think of giving a fire extinguisher as a Diwali gift? Perhaps none. The idea of a fire extinguisher may even seem ominous during the festival of lights.

Giftinc season

Take time out, listen and be there when they need you.

Earn your child's confidence

With those eight healing hours of snores.

Ode to jet lag

If Brillat-Savarin&rsquo;s old dictum, &ldquo;Tell me what you eat and I&rsquo;ll tell you what you are&rdquo; is true, then there&rsquo;s little question about it: during the Pujas, we&rsquo;re all shameless gluttons with bottomless pits for stomachs.

Unpacking your thali

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