A lawn can be started with seed or laid with squares of turf. The shape of the lawn can be designed to suit or alter your space. A square garden space, for example, becomes more attractive with a gently curved lawn bordered by flowerbeds.

The ground beneath

Business Standard

If you were told that you were being hypnotised by the design of the space around you every day, you would probably be aghast or laugh in disbelief. Yet the act of design is an act of hypnosis. You are often led, misled and even loaded with the &ldquo;ideas&rdquo; instilled in your everyday spaces. These ideas trigger emotions, based on memory, habits, patterns, aspirations and use, that allow you to interpret the space in seemingly individual ways that are in fact similar to the ways most people interpret the space.

Building feeling

The coolest guys in college always had cars. Okay fine, I lied, the coolest guys in college were the fellows with the bikes. But face it, every girl, more often than not, fancied the dude with a car a tad more, especially in summer and during the monsoons. The idea of the perfect car has changed since I answered the roll call, but if I were in college now, I&rsquo;d certainly have the Nissan Micra on my list. Not just any Micra, but the Micra DCI diesel. Here&rsquo;s why.

Campus chill

It&rsquo;s that time of the year again, ladies and gentlemen. The country&rsquo;s most prestigious automotive excellence awards, the ICOTY and IMOTY awards, were announced at a glittering ceremony on December 15, presented by JK Tyre.

And the winners are...

The 2011 World Cup could be an endorsement war between cricketers.

A different battleground

Magnus Carlsen underlined his mental toughness to win the London Chess Classic after starting with two losses in the first three rounds, versus Luke McShane and Anand. He won three of his last four and drew a dead-lost position against Kramnik.

CHESS (#662)

Power companies come out with advertising campaigns when they need to raise money from the capital markets. They buy space in the media, put up hoardings and even get into some sponsorship deals. Once the money is in the bank, they roll back the campaign. The latest Tata Power campaign has nothing to do with fund-raising; it is meant to do what any ordinary campaign does &mdash; create differentiation in the mind of the consumer.

Power that bonds

Business strategies of companies are fast outpacing their organisational design.

Designed for growth

Life after Honda: The Munjals want to build on their &lsquo;trust equity&rsquo; as they set the ball rolling for a new corporate identity and logo.

Hero's new script: Continuity

Cafe Coffee Day is ramping up fast to meet its biggest challenge: the entry of Starbucks.

Smelling the coffee

With the world turning flatter every day, clear distinction among product categories are fading. Usages and user interfaces are constantly getting redefined, re-aligned and re-discovered. The rapid bundling of services on various mobile telephony platforms &ndash; voice, chat, mail, music, media, internet, banking &amp; finance, &ndash; today&rsquo;s phone is a do-all-in-one gadget, an epitome of convergence.

The per capita myopia

Indian handset makers are taking on global brands with cheaper, feature-rich products, to increase their share of the mobile market.

Anything to make heads turn

The festival season is here and it&rsquo;s a good time for bargain hunting on shopping websites. Whether you want to pamper yourself or buy gifts, these websites are a great place to avail good discounts on a range of products. However, confusing price lists, less than reliable comparison charts and endless searches for the right thing to spend your money on can have you confused. So, we give you a lowdown on some of the most convenient online shopping and gift sites.

Networth: Best bargains

For India&rsquo;s youth channels, the fight for viewer eyeballs is going beyond the television set. Stacey D&rsquo;Sylva, a 19-year old management student at Wilson College, Mumbai spends almost five to six hours each week on a music channel website. &ldquo;The site has interesting blogs on music and movies which are fun to read. Also, if I miss a show on TV, I catch them on the site. This way, at least I get to keep up with the shows that I am following,&rdquo; said Stacey.

TV channels jump online to woo its audience

Dabur Real is the latest addition to a bandwagon of brands adopting the health positioning. Its latest campaign aims at appealing to the better judgement of mothers by highlighting the nutritional benefits of Dabur&rsquo;s packaged juice, rather than just the taste. &ldquo;Taste, which was our earlier positioning, is a variety seeking behaviour, while health is a habit,&rdquo; says Dabur India Head of Marketing (foods division) Krishan Kumar Chutani.

Real refreshed

Germany-based specialty chemicals company Lanxess is strengthening its footprint in India by setting up new units in synthetic rubber and clean-water technology. It hopes to leverage the demand in Asia with these units. The company has made investments in a green-field facility for rubber chemicals and ion-exchange resins at Jhagadia in Gujarat.

Rubber chemistry

The teleshopping market in India is estimated to be Rs 550-600 crore. It has been growing at more than 40 per cent over the last three years.

KIT: The teleshopping market in India

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BUSINESS AND

The top 10 business bestsellers

    Toyota Etios, Tata Swach, KFC Krushers, Pepsi Kurkure and McDonald&rsquo;s Aloo Tiki burger are products that reflect a new concept in business management. Name it.

The Strategist Quiz (#180)

    Which brand has used the lava of a European volcano for one of its world-famous products? This lava has a high degree of resilience.

Answers to last week's quiz (#179)

Musst chips launched with much fanfare in 2008 flopped, but the firm isn&rsquo;t giving up yet on the fast-growing fried snacks segment.

Parle hopes to be second time lucky

- Find Specials News, Features, Analysis and more at Business Standard. Full coverage of Goafest 2014

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