Life after Dota : Day 1

Well ! Well !
Yesterday evening something struck me. I started to wonder about the value of the precious time that i had been wasting all along playing or enjoying DOTA 2.

Suddenly i had this urge, to just

1. Open my steam 
2. Uninstall DOTA 2 
3. Uninstall Steam 
4. Sit back in Peace.

And you know what? I did that! I actually did. Though my friends from "DOTA 2 Brethren" tried to convince me to come back ( Well ! who wouldn't have liked to come back after so much persuasion ) but something inside had just realized , that maybe it was the right time to call , " I Quit! ".  

For those people who don't know what i am talking about, as per Wikipedia ( Well its Wikipedia , the easiest of the references i could use , right? ) 

Dota 2 is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The game is the stand-alone sequel to Defense of the Ancients (DotA), which was a community-created mod for Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne. Dota 2 is played in matches between two teams of five players, with each team occupying and defending their own separate base on the map. Each of the ten players independently controls a powerful character, known as a "hero", who all have unique abilities and styles of play. During a match, a player and their team collects experience points and items for their heroes in order to fight through the opposing team's heroes and other defenses. A team wins by being the first to destroy a large structure located in the opposing team's base, called the "Ancient".

So, now that we have established the context , i think i should continue my banter .

Post Leaving DOTA symptoms/benefits :

• Head felt light. It was hurting initially but then it felt light 
• I suddenly realized the day had 24hours that can be used to do something more constructive 
• My eyes felt better. Maybe, i wont need to visit the optician after all 
• The laptop also improved its performance, now it works faster 
• Hard disk has more space to be used for storing something which would be worth my time 
• Now, i give less number of "You know what" to others and just can enjoy reading about DOTA 2, which i liked more than playing, maybe i can cast games or be a coach or something.

But, why this sudden urge to stop doing something which i would rave about, love to allot my time to. Sometimes skip classes to do so or stay awake late night just to play that one last game? 

Well, i will talk about all that in my next post.  

I know ! I know! Nobody is going to read this blog post. But ,  i would like to take my chances here.

Also, if you do read. Thanks ! Stay Blessed !! 

Picture Courtesy : Valve Website 

Railway Budget 2015

Highlights of the Rail Budget as presented by our Honorable Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu:

• No increase in passenger fares
• SMS alert to be introduced for train timings
• To introduce air-conditioned coaches for suburban trains
• Wi-fi to be available at 400 railway stations
• To revamp station redevelopment policy completely
• To have bidding system for redevelopment of stations
• To develop 10 satellite railway stations this year
• On-board entertainment facility could be extended on Shatabdi trains
• Mobile charging stations will be introduced general class coaches
• Wagon-making scheme to be reviewed to make it easier for private investment
• To improve cleanliness & design of bed linen
• All India 24x7 grievances helpline 138 to start soon
• 7,000 more toilets to be replaced by Bio-Toilets, New toilets at 650 stations, more vacuum toilets
• Passenger travelling unreserved can procure a ticket within 5 minutes
• Mobile application to address complaints of people is also being developed
• Hand-held devices for ticket checkers for moving towards paperless ticketing
• Centrally managed railway display network in over 2000 stations in next 2 years
• We are committed to provide rail connectivity to North Eastern states
• CCTVs to be introduced in select trains and suburban trains for women safety
• Train Protection Warning System, Train Collision Avoidance System
• Tickets can be booked 120 days in advance instead of 60 days
• Plan expenditure to go up to a record Rs 1.1 lakh crore in 2015-16 from Rs 66,000 crore in the previous year
• Railways plans to spend over Rs 8 lakh crore over five years
• We will introduce train sets saving 20% of journey time, similar to bullet trains in design, and that can run on existing tracks
• Feasibility report of high speed train between Mumbai and Ahmadabad expected by mid-2015
• The speed passenger trains across nine corridors will be increased to 160-200 km from 110 km
• Railways to go through transformation in five years; to increase track capacity by 10 per cent to 1.38 lakh km
• To monetize assets rather than sell them
• To set up full-fledged Railway University in FY16
• Rs.2000 crore for Coastal Connectivity Program; Rs.2500 crore through BOT/Annuity route
• 6608 kms of track to be electrified
• Projects worth Rs 96,182 crore to expand capacity of 9,420 km rail lines
• Drawing up comprehensive policy to tap latent advertising potential

Hey You! Hey You! Brand Characters or Brand Ambassadors

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“Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.”

- Elon Musk

Brands faze in and out of our lives. Only some leave an impression too deep to erase from our memory. Notice when you pick up an Amul product off the shelf in a grocery store, what do you look for? Or rather what catches your eye first? We don’t go looking for packing that says Amul but instead our mind automatically focuses on a polka-dot-frock girl on the cover. Such is the power of that one brand character who has been entertaining us for half a century now. Since the 1960s, this adorable brand character has not only entertained us but also drawn our attention towards social issues.

Image Courtesy: freedigitalphotos.net, Stuart Miles

‘Prevent malaria, Spread amularia’ shows the Amul girl arm wrestling with a malaria-spreading mosquito in an attempt to throw light on the deadly disease Malaria while campaigning for Amul butter. Would that be more or less convincing if a real person had done that? One of the advantages of being a brand character was that the Amul girl got away with numerous political satires. Here’s another example but of a brand ambassador. Batting maestro Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar , who sits on the pinnacle of world cricket, promoted the brand MRF for almost 10 years and we would be absolutely correct in saying that most of us still associate MRF with Tendulkar. When Sachin started using the Adidas cricket equipment after his long-term association with MRF ended, we certainly missed the familiar logo ‘MRF – Genius’. For cricket crazy fans, MRF would rather be Sachin’s bat and not a Tyre Company. Probably this is how a superstar brand ambassador popularizes the brand.

Moving from examples to the ideology, we wonder what goes inside the mind of a marketer when deciding upon a Brand Ambassador or a Brand Character. When does a brand go for real people and do they necessarily opt for celebrities or superstars only? When does a brand come up with an entirely new invention of an animated character? Where do we see the pug in Hutch ads – a brand ambassador or a brand character? We are only trying to show you our perspective here. Companies go for well-known personalities to leverage on their stardom. They essentially look for someone who relates to their product like a perfect embodiment. Ambassadors are not only good leaders and speakers, they are technologically well up-to-date too in today’s 4G generation. They are credible and trustworthy. While choosing a brand ambassador one has to go with the existing choices whereas in a brand character one works the reverse way. There is a freedom to design a character cut to the product. A brand ambassador provides credibility to the brand by its action and persona; on the other hand a brand character can be modified depending upon the whims and fancies of the brand. And while we may not be able to tell which one – brand ambassador or brand character, we can certainly say that the Hutch Puppy is essentially a mix of both.

What happens when a star falters and his credibility reflects on the brand? We illustrate with an example here. Nike in the preceding year had two of its major brand ambassadors default big time. Lance Armstrong the face of Nike in cycling and Tiger Woods the face of Nike in Golf. Nike scraped the contract with Lance upon his doping revelation whereas Tiger Woods continues to be the face of Nike in Golf even after his adultery. The reason simply being Nike being a sports performance brand drew a line between personal and professional arena. In the case of Tiger Woods, the player gave a public apology and soon resumed his number one world title too, for a short while. Seeing the credentials of the player, Nike went ahead to make one of the best golf commercials till date ‘No Cup is Safe’.

To further come to a consensus let’s look at more examples. Remember Ronald MacDonald , plays the clown of, err what was the name of that fast food chain? Or the battery powered Bunny for energizer batteries and then there is the iconic Michelin Tire Man made out of the product itself and widely considered as the benchmark when it comes to developing a brand. The mascot even featured in a couple of Hollywood flicks one of which is Ghostbusters (1984). On the other hand peppy Parineeti Chopra endorses all pep up brands like Kurkure, Nivea, Maaza, Spinz, WeChat, Pantene and Mahindra. Ranbir Kapoor, the young heartthrob of the nation, endorses Pepsi, Panasonic, Tata DoCoMo, Nissan and the Spanish football club FC Barcelona.

There was a really intriguing article put forward by John Yong titled ‘If Cartoon Characters Were Brand Ambassadors’ in which he writes about the work of Romania-based graphic designers Stefan Asafti in ‘Imagination, Cartoons & Brands’. Asafti has quipped, how would great brands look like if cartoon characters inspired them? Look at the ingenious images and go all nostalgic.

Coming back, Airtel has never used brand characters and Vodafone is heavily bent on them. Airtel advertisements went viral with ‘har ek friend zaruri hota hai’ and ‘Jo tera hai who mera hai’. These advertisements took people from ordinary walks of life as brand ambassadors and focused on ‘friendship’ to create an emotional connect with the youth. Airtel’s digital TV commercials casted real life celebrity couple Saifeena to exhibit more genuineness of the brand. Vodafone on the other hand struck the chords in the hearts of millions by inventing the ZooZoos for IPL season 2. Though strategies of both the companies converted into sales, let us also have a look at the cost structure. ZooZoo’s, it cost 3 crore to shoot the entire ad campaign as compared to Airtel’s Saifeena who took back home 6 crore for a 10 second commercial. That’s a whopping difference.

Now, this is a quick one for you to think. ‘Appy Fizz’ - first thing that comes to your mind. Quick, I said. Is it the image of brand ambassador Saif Ali Khan or brand character Appy Fizz? Undoubtedly to us, it is the bottle mascot jumping up and down with over enthusiasm. Here is an ambassador and a character working together to promote the drink, and each individual in the audience could have a different pick. We wonder if one alone could have solely created the impact of the two together. Imagine Mr. Appy Fizz but no Saif Ali Khan. Well there isn’t much to imagine. Saif Ali Khan only started hanging out with Appy Fizz in the year 2012. Incidentally Parle agro, the parent company of Appy Fizz, had never used a Bollywood actor for any of its brand before. Before Saif, Appy Fizz operated alone and displayed its wit and humor to a group of four teenagers. Then came the cousin Grappo Fizz in the picture. The tagline went from one to two cool drinks to hang out with. And finally the entry of Saif brought in a cooler quotient. Appy Fizz is a youth drink and Saif a youth icon. The response in return turned out to be great.

So, to sum it up, Brand ambassador and brand characters are two sides of a coin. It’s at the discretion of the brand manager to ensure a positive outcome no matter which side the coin reveals. He can even try for a hung coin and hope that the risk pays off. Both have their pros and cons, which vary depending upon the brand and its target audience. A kid’s product is more likely to be associated and depicted by a brand character and chances are you won’t fail until and unless the product is really not up to the mark. But you wouldn’t dare to use the same for a Hair dye and sit back anticipating a good profit margin. In the very end it boils down to the fact that market is a casino where you are trying your luck every day, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. No magical formula to guarantee you success. So as the saying goes, “In marketing I've seen only one strategy that can't miss - and that is to market to your best customers first, your best prospects second and the rest of the world last” (John Romero), so operate at your own risk and go all creative with Brand Ambassadors and Brand Characters. We love to watch them all.

This article has been authored by Nalini Singh and Pranjal Parihar from IIFT Kolkata

10 Must Have Apps for a Student

Students spend more than half of the day on their phones, playing games, doing chit-chat using Snapchat, WhatsApp and all other sort of messaging apps. As a result, most of us are criticized of staying glued to our phones and not making the most of our time. 

Well, that's true! We are just whiling away our time. But, if you believe that you can do a lot more with your mobile phones, then these apps are tailor made for you.
Let's Start,

1) News in Shorts : It's a must have app if you don't have time to go through the lengthy newspapers but still want to stay updated. This app provides you with the best articles around and that also in just 60 words. Amazing! Isn't it? 

2) Quiz Up: Well, I know you may or may not agree with me on this one, but, if you want to try your hands in quizzing this is an app which provides you with the best opportunity you can get. Try your minds and fingers on different topics ranging from Film quizzes to quizzes on chemistry. You will find abstract of abstract topics in this app and well, the fun of beating someone by just few points is just not explainable. And remember these lines from Samuel Beckett "Ever Tried. Ever Failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail Again. Fail Better."

3) Mathway: Oh! i remember all those Maths assignments that are just pain in you know what. I was never able to complete them without wasting so much of time that i just hated them. Try Mathway—the mobile application that will guide you step-by-step while you search for algebra, geometry, or any other math solution. Enter your task into the application, and check if your solution is the same with one offered.

4) Studious:  remember a free Android app cannot and will not make you smarter. What It can do, however, is to help you to appear a little more studious, thanks in large part to its feature that silences your phone in class. After all, we all know that teachers don't appreciate the phone ringing in the class especially if you are among those having all sort of idiotic ringtones that would make the whole class laugh. This app also allows you to save your class schedule and class locations and track assignments and tests.

5) Ted: Well, I am not talking about the ass kicking and talking stuff toy here. I am talking about the TEDX app which has people from around the world sharing their bit of knowledge with people all over. Watch them, learn from them and get inspired. The range of topics the Ted talk’s covers are really intriguing.

6) Khan Academy: Well, if you have not heard of this, then I would request you that the first thing you do after reading this blog is to look through this website. It is more than just an online encyclopedia. You can learn and re-learn a variety of topics from here. If you are not able to get something in the class, try khan academy, you may find it easier to comprehend. 

7) Exam Time: Well we all know we want to have that extra edge over our fellow classmates and for those like me, want to have that sufficient knowledge to at least be assured of clearing the exams respectfully. Exam Time allows you to create online Mind Maps, Flashcards, Online Notes and Quizzes. All of these online study tools are designed to help you improve your learning and prepare for exams. Never before has it been easier to create your online study resources and share them with your classmates. Plus all your notes are stored in one place. Happy Studying. 

8) Dictionary.com: This app is for all those who just love to read. They just love it. But, what if you come across a word that you don't know meaning of? This app provides you with all the help that you need. This is also helpful for those who just want to try their hands on writing. 

9) RealCalc Scientific calculator:  I don't think i should explain the use of this particular app., but, what else it does that now you will have an extra excuse to use your phone during all those class test and quizzes that you want to master. Well, i am not promoting the use of unfair means in any way. So, you are at your own and you have to decide what's best for you.

10) Cam Scanner: This is app is a life saver(money saver). Well, a lot of time before exams we run to "Jugaadufy" class notes and other notes. What you can do is at the place of getting them photo copied, you can use cam scanner which would convert them into PDF format and you can easily read them on your laptop or tablets, given you have one. The only NO NO is that you have sufficient control over yourself so that you can actually study from your laptop or tablets.   

This is just a list of apps that I have tried and tested. The list is never ending and I would advise you to start from somewhere (here) and if you find them useful move onto new apps. Make the most out of the resources you have. Students today are more dependent on technology, which is true in every sense and we should look towards optimizing our time and resources. 

P.S. Hard work has no substitute.  

SWOT Analysis for Hector Beverages – Tzinga

Strength

o   The name of the brand is very catchy.

o   The product is available in variants well liked and suited to the tastes of the Indian consumer. These are Tropical Trip, Mango Strawberry and Lemon Mint for Tzinga.

o   The association of the company with a ‘Cool’ image helps in its brands including Tzinga imbibe some of that coolness into its market presence.

o    Hector Beverages have priced these drinks competitively. 200mL pack of Tzinga is price at Rs20. This will ensure competition to its rivals like Red Bull which is priced at  Rs95 for a 250mL can.

o   The management behind the company are well educated coming from some of the best Universities in the world.

o   The packaging is attractive giving a reason to the consumer to go for it.

 Weaknesses

o   Limited brand recall- Tzinga has not been able to register itself in the minds of the consumer.

o   Brand awareness- Hector beverages have not invested a lot on advertising. As a result even though they have a great product competitively priced, the average consumer is not aware of the brand when he goes to the super store

o   Even in supermarkets, Tzinga has less retail shelf space. Compared to other brands which are prominently placed, Tzinga is usually in the lower shelves out of display.

o   Availability is the product is not as widespread as some of the other products.

  Opportunities

o   The Food market in India is $65bn. Out of this, $2.2bn is the beverage market. The energy market takes around Rs.700crore from this market. Though the size is small as of now, the energy drinks market shows great potential for growth in the future. Currently the market is growing at 20% every year.

o   The product can be marketed as something that keeps you up even when you have deadlines to meet. That is, it can be a substitute for coffee for those who don’t like coffee but have it just because they have deadlines to meet.

o   The market is currently dominated by just one brand. Red Bull commands over 80% of the market. There is immense scope for competition.

 Threats

o   There are other players coming up as well. These include Monster, Gatorade and others. Tzinga will have to compete intensely and set itself apart in order to make its presence felt in the Indian market.

o   Hector Beverages in general have their presence in and around Delhi. While their products may be available in other metros as well, there is a special focus on Delhi. This would need to change if the company wants give Red bull a run for its money.

o   There have been reports of death related to excessive caffeine from energy drinks around the world. Tzinga needs to guard itself from such reports.

Effect of US on the Global Economy

The world economies are cross linked because of the globalization that has happened all over the world. Moreover America is at the nucleus of Globalization and any change to its economy has a direct effect to the world economy. The recovery of US from 2008 crisis is now hampering the world economies at different levels.

US accounts for 8.56% of world total exports, but it’s not the exports that we should be concerned about , it’s the imports that are the worrying factors. US is the largest importer in the world and now its import have come down significantly which is attributed to the fact that it has discovered rich reserves of shale gas. US was before heavily dependent on energy resources coming from other countries but this discovery has made it self-sufficient. Hence , the fund that has been freed by this is being invested back in the US to give thrust to the local manufacturing industries.
A 1 percent point pickup in US GDP growth typically meant a 0.4 point spillover for the rest of the world. So, another major reason leading to the worldwide slowdown is attributed to the fact that US FED is withdrawing the monetary stimulus on accounts of picking up of the US economy and as a result the exchange rates have been hampered all over the world.  FII investors are also withdrawing money from the emerging markets now as a result.

Strengthening of US equity markets would result in greater investments in US and in return shielding it from currency rate fluctuations. Another side of the coin is , India and US share a healthy trade relationship  and if the demand would increase in US this would mean increase in India’s export and if America recovers it would create a whole lot of job opportunities. This is would depreciate the current account deficit of India.  Also, with time if the domestic demand is met by domestic production in US then it would reduce its dependence on foreign markets which would result in favorable Return on total assets.
Domestic firms rather than going for acquisitions abroad would now look to invest money and capital in the US economy which would result in increased FDI inflow in the country. Well all these things also depend upon the type of policies that are being drafted by the government is US.
 

The conclusion that comes out is even if the situation worldwide is not at its best but one thing is sure that it would not lead to other parallel crisis. 

“QE TAPERING : Is Indian Rupee Doomed ?”

The year 2013 was a historic one as the Indian rupee went Rs 68.80 against the US dollar, it also witnessed the single biggest fall in value of INR at 256 paisa against the reserve currency of the world. The Indian economy came unscathed from 2008 financial crisis but since then it has been spiraling down in terms of the value of INR which has come down drastically from its peak values of Rs. 38.80 for a USD in Feb. 2008.  This depreciation has accounted to many factors like policy paralysis on government front, a widening current account deficit, strict investment norms etc. But the factor that tops it all is tapering worries of Quantitative easing by US government.

Quantitative easing is a fiscal stimulus measure taken by the central bank of a country involving purchase of distressed assets in the market for injecting liquidity into the economy and breathing life into the otherwise soft demand conditions. The US government carried out a series of quantitative programs to revive the economy from the sub-prime crisis of 2008 and as a result it ended up creating excess liquidity into the financial systems all over the world.

The 2008 crisis was itself a unstable mortgage bubble and now this quantitative easing has resulted into an enormous investment bubble, which depicts that the US economy is on its way up. This improvement has led to the Fed considering ceasing the fiscal stimulus provided by these QE programs. The reverse of QE which is QE tapering is the suction of liquidity from the market by withdrawing from the purchase of assets by selling them once the economy is out of danger.

It’s not healthy for Indian economy as the Indian market is relatively less developed markets which offer a higher return on the investments as compared to western markets with near zero levels of interest rates and still anemic growth. Now, this suction of liquidity from the market would result in unsustainable stream of investments and the improving US economy would make investors to withdraw money from the emerging markets and put it back into the US. 

While the Indian rupee has taken a nose dive , the Indian share market have been reaching the new highs , which is a aftermath of reassuring Finance minister and appointment of new RBI governor. But, the state of stock market is very critical and foreign investors can any time put their money in the stock exchange and can withdraw as soon as possible which would result in the stock market crashing down.   

It’s not that the Indian economy is in the doldrums, but  we should look it in a way that the US economy has grown more than the Indian economy which has resulted in increase in the value USD against INR. Still, it’s not a good sign if a currency depreciates but it’s just a value it’s not the exact indicator of a country’s progress. Even if we put the New rupee price at 100INR = 1NINR then still there would be more effort which would e put into to earn the new rupee. We should look towards a stable recovery and not should focus on the numbers only.