Its been some months since Windows 8 was launched. And while reactions have varied from &ldquo;oohs&rdquo; and &ldquo;aahs&rdquo; to the unprintable, here&rsquo;s what my experience has been over the past few months.

Living life with Windows 8 

Business Standard

It&rsquo;s a little early in my career to sit back and decide what my &lsquo;best&rsquo; campaign is. I would like to think that my best is yet to come. So I&rsquo;ll talk about a campaign which demonstrates a new way of thinking, one that is definitely the best of our current work. While I am the one talking about it, there&rsquo;s a team that&rsquo;s made it a &lsquo;best&rsquo; campaign &mdash; my partner Malvika and me, and the creative team on the account and people from various departments.

'The Killer campaign was not just a communication idea'

The top 10 business bestsellers

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    Which business person said this &ldquo;I am unfortunately a person who has often said, you put a gun to my head and pull the trigger or take the gun away, I won&rsquo;t move my head&rdquo;?&nbsp;
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    What is common to Henry Ford, Abraham Lincoln, Walt Disney and Caleb Bradham the inventor of Pepsi Cola?&nbsp;
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    What is the term used to describe the science of hiding data in seemingly innocuous formats such as graphics, visual images, audio or

The Strategist Quiz (#287)

French producer Alain Chamas called Amitabh Bachchan a one-man industry in the late seventies, when eight of his films &ndash; released almost simultaneously &ndash; had an unprecedented success at the box office. Over 30 years later, Bollywood has got another claimant to that epithet.

Brand Salman: Looking for class appeal

Extending brands have become increasingly important in the last decade of consumerism as new product launches have gone up substantially. A Nielsen survey across a sample of India Inc has found that marketers have today realised that having fewer but larger brands makes a lot more business sense. This shift is visible as many companies have caught the brand stretching bug, seeing it as a cheaper and less risky way compared to creating new brands.

Innovation powered by brand stretching

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) has two winners &ndash; Boost and Horlicks, which has been around for 140 years and became part of Glaxo&rsquo;s portfolio when the drug giant merged with SmithKline in 2000. But the company&rsquo;s ambition to grow beyond its core malted food drinks products in India has seen only a muted response.

Glaxo's brand extensions lack fizz

Mobile commerce is on the cusp of taking off in India and the growth curve would be a hockey stick shaped one, says Shubhradeep Guha, Global Capability Lead and Country Manager, SapientNitro (India), an integrated marketing, commerce and technology services firm, part of the $1.02billion Boston-based Sapient Corporation (2011). In an interaction with Sudipto Dey, he shares his insights on how brands should behave when the mobile and tablet screens become the hub of communication with consumers.

Mobile, not TV, will become the first screen: Shubhradeep Guha

M D Mallya, who retired from Bank of Baroda (BoB) as chairman in November last year, is the Business Standard Banker of the Year 2011-12. He was chosen by a four-member jury, headed by former Sebi chairman M Damodaran.

M D Mallya BS Banker of the Year

I am planning to exchange my Maruti 800, which I have owned for the last 10 years, for a new car. My budget ranges from Rs 6 to 8 lakh. I would prefer buying a diesel car that will give me good mileage, while keeping maintenance costs low as well.

Diesel demand

It is easily the most high-profile and spectacular vintage and classic car show held in the country, and deservedly attracts global attention as well. The third edition of the Cartier &lsquo;Travel With Style&rsquo; Concours d&rsquo;Elegance is all set to be held at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai on February 9 and 10, 2013. Previous editions of the event were held in Mumbai (2008) and in Delhi (2011), and going by the gorgeous metal that was presented at the shows, this event promises to be as good if not better than the earlier ones.

A Class Act

W hile most wine drinkers keep only a few bottles of wine (if any) at home, there comes a time when you may want to have the luxury of picking and choosing from your own private wine cellar rather than have to go rushing off to the nearest wine shop whenever guests are over for dinner.

Your own wine cellar

When I was 12 or so, my parents and I yelled at each other because they told me I couldn&rsquo;t wear shorts in the Delhi summer. I did anyway. When I was 16, we yelled at each other because they told me I couldn&rsquo;t hitch rides on trucks. I did anyway. (Those were possibly more innocent times.) When I was 20, we yelled at each other because they told me I couldn&rsquo;t go to a hotel coffee shop to have an after-dinner cup of coffee with a young man of my acquaintance.

Standing room only

We wanted another family member, someone to fill out the cast, a supporting actress,&rdquo; John Homans, the executive editor at New York magazine, writes in his engaging and informative book that is both a survey of the latest research on canine cognition and a memoir of his years with his Lab mix, Stella. As a puppy, Stella found her way from Tennessee to an animal shelter near New York City. Even at 12 weeks old and locked in a cage, she seemed &ldquo;self-possessed, happy for attention but not demanding it,&rdquo; the author recalls. The Homans family took to her immediately and adopted her to be a companion for their soon-to-be 10-year-old son &mdash; thereby bringing the comedic and mysterious presence of canine intelligence into their lives.

Dogs and the human factors 

The Australian Open in Melbourne marks the commencement of the Grand Slam season in tennis on January 15,2013. It has certain unique characteristics. In the first place, unlike in the case of the other majors, in its logo, it features the image of a real player serving in a classic stance. I wrote to Tennis Australia (TA) enquiring about the identity of the player. Darren of TA said the Australian Open logo is not based on any specific player. On further research into the matter, I found on the website of ATP Champions Tour on the page devoted to Stefan Edberg that it was a picture of his distinctive serve that was used to create the logo of Australian Open.

Let the slams begin

The 11th Parsvnath Open is developing into the usual dog-fight. It features three sections and roughly 900 players. Section B (rated Elo 1900-2200) has ended with Sushant Banerjee winning first place and Rs 1 lakh (total fund of Rs 3 lakhs). Section C (Under 1900 Elo) has over 550 players and a prize fund of Rs 6 lakhs.

Chess (#1027)

Every day when I manage to conclude any business.

My Life My Style: Kalyani Chawla

The compact luxury SUV segment was pretty non-existent a few years ago. Save for the BMW X3 and the Land Rover Freelander, there were literally no other competitors globally. But things started to change with the introduction of the Audi Q5 and the Range Rover Evoque. The former has been a leader in its segment in the country for a while now, driven by its looks, engines and overall appeal. Yet there have been areas where the Q5 needed improvements, notably in the ride and handling departments. Sure enough, the feedback did wind its way to the engineering boffins at Ingolstadt, home to the four rings brand and voila, an improved Q5 is now ready to grace our roads.

Better sweet symphony

The memory of an inebriated Pankaj Kapur crashing a wedding atop a humongous pink buffalo or &ldquo;gulaabi bhains&rdquo;, cussing &ldquo;pancho, pancho&rdquo; in a perfect Haryanvi accent, will possibly stay with me for a long time. But apart from that one applause-worthy moment, there is little to take home from Vishal Bhardwaj&rsquo;s recent offering Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola.

Mandola's hiccups

A storied neighbourhood in north Kolkata, ensconced roughly between the Hooghly and Chitpur Road, was where the merchant princes of Bengal built their magnificent palatial houses at the height of British mercantile domination of eastern India. Today these Raj Baris stand crumbling but are still guardians of a burnished part.

Once was Calcutta

Hindus may be among the most prosperous people in the US but they rarely assert their religious identity.

Manu's children

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