Back in the 1990s, when Reebok launched its (then) highly successful range of Pump sneakers in the US, a couple of interesting things happened. Despite being almost 150 per cent more expensive than a comparable pair of sneakers, the Pump was selling really well, even more so in urban centers, and among the key opinion-influencer set of urban African-American youth. Two side effects of this were (a) youth taking to robbery and mugging to either steal the shoes or obtain the means to buy the shoes (b) fakes on the street, being lapped up by those who couldn't obtain the real deal, by hook or crook. Marketing legend has it that Reebok did nothing to discourage either of these two effects, and, in fact, went on to encourage the latter.

Is your brand a fake yet?

Business Standard

Online streaming media may be doing to traditional television what TV did to radio in the 1950s. A recent survey commissioned by blip.tv claims that online viewing is moving from lunchtime (at work) to prime time (at home). In simple words, audiences are beginning to add original web series into their nightly viewing habits.

Winner takes all

Defining the appropriate corporate form strategy is perhaps going to be one of the most complex yet pertinent questions facing Indian conglomerates in the next decade. In our previous two articles, we have explored why conglomerates exist and their evolution in the Indian context. This final article in the trilogy focuses on a framework that Indian conglomerates can use to think about their corporate form.

Framework for growth

A successful conversation is much like a tennis game-back and forth with each participant equally enthused. Once the dialogue has begun, the conversation should flow from there.

Negotiation: surviving the silences and the stares

Think about it: the days of social media sites being a strictly &quot;social&quot; experience are over, embedded commerce is now a large part of the experience, even on sites like Facebook. Many businesses have entered the world of social media for the sake of keeping up with trends &mdash; a smart move, but one lacking foresight. In this interview to Alokananda Chakraborty, Rajdeep Endow, who holds the dual responsibility as the managing director for India and the global delivery lead for SapientNitro, part of Sapient, is an integrated marketing and technology services firm, talks about what companies are doing right and why some are failing.

Without content, a web presence is lifeless: Rajdeep Endow

Last week, Microsoft announced the availability of free MS Office 2013 Consumer Preview download (32-bit and 64-bit editions). The software will be able to run on Windows 7 or 8, and the offer lasts till June 2013. The most remarkable feature of the new Office suite is that it comes with cloud-support features, accessible via Microsoft SkyDrive, which enable document-sharing across devices. Announcing the Office, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer emphasised, &quot;We are taking bold steps at Microsoft...The new, modern Office is a cloud service, and will fully light up when paired with Windows 8.&quot; He wasn't joking.

Your new Office heads for the cloud

Amway India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of $10.9 billion Amway Corporation, USA, is looking to beef up its presence in India. The idea, says the company, is to take India among the top three markets in the world for Amway by 2020. A key pillar of its growth strategy is the home care segment which operates under &ldquo;Amway Home&rdquo;. It has just announced a new brand identity for this segment. The new slogan &lsquo;Powerfully Green for a Safer Clean&rsquo; is in line with the company&rsquo;s aim to seen as a company that follows environmental-friendly business practices.

Amway India: Donning the war paint

ICICI bank has launched a new version of its mobile banking app &mdash; iMobile &mdash; which is packed with features designed to make the customers&rsquo; lives easier. When people are increasingly choosing to give up the joys of shopping to browse online and order without wasting time, mobile banking that saves people that dreaded trip to the bank can be a welcome relief for users.

ICICI Bank: On-the-go banking

In a bid to inject diversity in its courses, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has launched new electives in areas like real estate management, sports marketing, media investment management and coaching skills.

IIM-A launches electives on real estate, sports

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The top 10 business bestsellers

Opportunity for short stay medical centres in the country is now gradually recognised and will be at the forefront of the healthcare industry growth in the future. In the last decade, a small but significant number of short stay centres have been set up in our country, primarily in Ophthalmology, Gastroenterology and Orthopaedics are other specialties which contribute to a substantial chunk of day care services being offered in the country. Hospitals are increasingly dedicating few of their beds as day care beds, making an efficient use of the assets available to them. More centres are expected to be operational in the near future.

KIT: Short stay medical centres

    In the early 1900s bankers chose this person to run a failing New York based meat packing company. This company through an earlier subsidiary used animal by-products from its slaughter houses and started out making tennis racket strings, violin strings, and surgical sutures. Identify the company and the person after whom it is named.

The Strategist Quiz (#263)

French car maker Renault has fired a salvo into the stronghold of homegrown vehicle manufacturers with the launch of compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) Duster earlier this month. The Duster, has already grabbed over 5,000 bookings.

Duster success to push compact SUV launches by global majors

Get ready for a charged up battle in the Indian glucose drink market. Kolkata-based Emami is gearing up for a head-on clash with established players like Heinz and Dabur. After soft launching its glucose brand called Zandu Gluco Charge early this year, the FMCG major is looking for a phase-wise launch across the country, competing with brands like Glucon D of Heinz and Glucose D by Dabur.

Emami set to charge up glucose drink market

The latest RECMA ranking of media agencies holds few surprises, with GroupM and Madison topping the charts as usual. What the report emphasises, however, is the power of the big six &ndash; WPP, Publicis, Interpublic Group, OMG, Havas and Aegis (now with Dentsu). Roughly half the global advertising spends are handled by media agency networks controlled by these firms.

The growing clout of media agencies

It is one of the fiercest contests at the Olympics, but it is not on any list of events. Every two years, the International Olympic Committee and the host city battle companies that want to bask in the Games&rsquo; prestige and global exposure but have not paid the small fortune required to be an official sponsor.

Brand police on the prowl at Olympics

He was the enfant terrible of Indian art, its Damien Hirst, she was his muse and mentor and co-artist; he came from the dark heartland of deprivation in Bihar, she was a Briton who returned to her roots in India; they&rsquo;d had a difficult time trying to establish a toehold in the tradition-bound Indian market till Dame Fortune, Swiss gallery owner Pierre Huber and London promoter Charles Saatchi winked at them. In no time, Subodh Gupta and Bharti Kher had become the darlings of the contemporary art world, more likely to be spotted in Venice or Basel than in downtown New Delhi or the local supermarket in Gurgaon.

A house for Subodh & Bharti

It was the mid-1970s. Siddhartha Kaul, about 20 then, was reading in his room when around midnight his mother knocked on his door to say that someone was rattling the gate outside. Kaul was used to strangers approaching what had by then been his home for five years &mdash; the country&rsquo;s first SOS children&rsquo;s village, Greenfields, in Faridabad near Delhi. His father, J N Kaul, had helped set up the village and the family lived there with dozens of orphaned, destitute and abandoned children.

Village daddy

Last night I happened to catch an old episode of the Karan Johar Koffee with Karan (Season Two) show featuring Raj Kapoor&rsquo;s three sons, Randhir Rishi, and Rajiv Kapoor and his daughter-in-law Neetu and daughter Rima Jain.

My family and other animals

No? I didn&rsquo;t think so. Well, both statements are at least partly true. Because I have also paid attention to the important things, I can tell you the ingredients of most of Nigella&rsquo;s dishes. They are: butter, flour, cheese, chocolate, sugar, cream, biscuit crumbs, chorizo sausage, sherry and... things like that. I have also paid attention to the cars on Top Gear: for instance, the Bentley with an engine taken from a Second World War Spitfire fighter plane, and any number of Aston Martins, Bugattis, Lamborghinis, Ferraris and other powerful creations.

Making fun of English

With a 3000cc straight-six motor making 258 bhp, the last-generation BMW 330i was acknowledged as one of the fastest accelerating saloons you could buy off the shelf in India. When we tested the car, it touched the century mark from standstill in just 8.02 seconds. Pretty impressive, actually.

Master blaster

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