The last I heard a phrase like “Sorry, Indians not allowed” was in the pre-independence India and it’s a kind of strange that even more than 60 years after independence that in the Capital City of India, an international company which is looking to make money from India would open their FIRST outlet with an “Exclusive Preview for international travellers” and restrict access to holders of international passports..don’t believe me check out the picture that my friend and colleague Shrey Khetarpal took when he visited their outlet at the CITY SELECT MALL in Saket, New Delhi.
What’s their message “INDIANS KEEP OUT”! Wonder how’s that going to be possible for a retail outlet in India? Apparently, this is a franchise outlet and the franchisee is an Indian national. The question I ask, “Does Haagen-Dazs have any control over its communication and the way it presents itself to its consumers?” If the answer in this case is a NO, then it’s their Click to Read More
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I was recently invited by OWW consulting , a leading CSR consulting firm in Malaysia, to speak at their CSR conference in Kaula Lumpur. It was a very impressive conference with many experts presenting their views. And listening to them all I could think of was the fact that I had so much more to learn.
Incidentally, I was the only speaker from the world of public relations or what they called reputation management – the link between CSR and Corporate Reputation. I took my cue from this brief and made a case which could have got me into a lot of trouble with my hosts!
I made a case that CSR as we know it is dead or dying and a new avtaar is emerging. My hosts were generous and kind and here I am sharing with you the contents of my argument. Hope you enjoy it and share your views after thinking it over.
CSR is only a three letter label today
For far too long, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has stood for nice-to-have initiatives that round off a hard-nosed Click to Read More
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I have been watching with great interest the Jet Airways saga and, being a frequent flier with the airline, I feel ’sad’ to see the reputation of India’s one time favourite airline take such a beating!
It started with the ill fated buy of Sahara that gave them bad press. Then the fiasco of summarily sacking staff en masse, which played out in the national media and ended with a late night announcement on television by the Chairman taking his children back into the airline. And now the ‘mass sick leave’ taken by their pilots stranding 13,000 passengers across the country. Triggered by the dismissal of three pilots, this is once again grabbing headlines, ‘breaking news’ across the national media, fuelling talk shows and studio discussions. Visuals of stranded passengers crying and cursing the airline are running across the channels.
Add to all of this the impact of the financial crisis and rising ATF costs that has led to the return of Click to Read More
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Becomes first international brand to establish its presence in Bangladesh
I am writing to share some good news with you about Genesis Burson-Marsteller. This is not an advert for the firm but just information that would be useful to fellow public relations and marketing professionals.
Title: Concito PR is officially launched in Dhaka in May’09
Two weeks back we launched Concito PR www.concitopr.com. Concito PR is our exclusive affiliate for Bangladesh and a pioneer firm in the communication space in that country. It is an independent company owned by Cogito Marketing Solutions, which was set up three years back by Mehboob Chowdhury, the former Marketing Director of Grameen Phone, the number one mobile operator in Bangladesh. Mehboob is widely credited with taking Grameen Click to Read More
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