Among the joys of being a movie buff in the Internet age (and I speak with the hoary wisdom of one who remembers an earlier time) is the opportunity to have limitless public discussions about a stimulating film. You can examine the nuts and bolts of a movie, supply diverse readings of a scene, get technical, argue about seemingly inconsequential details, stupefy people by making obscure references.

Plot holes & tale twisters

Business Standard

    The introduction of the pressure cooker in the late 1930s and an 11 herbs and spice formula invented by its founder has made this brand what it is today. Name it.

Answers to last week's quiz (#245)

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

&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

The market is awash with computing devices and buyers are spoilt for choice.

Hail the Ultrabook, wail  about its price

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

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

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)

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? 

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

Chuck Brymer, president and chief executive officer of DDB Worldwide, was in India for the DDB Asia-Pacific Summit in Mumbai between March 26 and 28. A packed schedule notwithstanding, he held his first town-hall-style meeting, also taking out time out to sightsee. He takes home the belief that India can add to the momentum in operations in Asia-Pacific.

It is not uncommon for rival agencies to work together: Chuck Brymer

Remote and mystical, Menchuka on the McMahon Line in Arunachal Pradesh is as difficult to get to as a hidden paradise ought to be. Ajai Shukla visits, and finds in its medicinal traditions a promise for the future.

Visit to Shangri-La

What do you call a D-segment sedan that&rsquo;s part Audi A6, part four-door coup&eacute; and part Korean? The new Hyundai Sonata, that&rsquo;s what. So far, the Korean manufacturer&rsquo;s success at establishing a foothold in the D-segment game has been limited at best, since it has been unable to really take the fight to the big boys &mdash; the Honda Accord, Skoda Superb and Toyota Camry. The previous Sonata went through two iterations, each with its own strengths. Both cars offered good value in and of themselves, but somehow (apart from the very first one, that is) the Sonata hasn&rsquo;t been as much of a success story as it should have been; given the way Hyundai&rsquo;s other models sell, it has definitely been an underperformer. The company hopes to change all that with this, the latest model, so let&rsquo;s have a close look at the car and find out if it can run with the heavyweights.

A change of tune

Wildlife photographers Jonathan and Angela Scott have studied one pride of  marsh lions in Kenya over 35 years.

Lions aren't lazy

Three years ago, the then-new Hyundai i20 set many people thinking &mdash; is it going to go the Getz way? After all, despite being positioned as a Maruti Suzuki Swift rival, the Getz never seemed to topple the little Suzie from its top spot. Or do phenomenally well for itself, either.

i for detail

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