Missing the Woods for the Trees?

Hutch bought over by Vodafone > Vodafone engages itself in a high profile nationwide branding excercise. Fair, any business worth its existence should care a lot about its brand, end of the day it is their image! Lot of money spent but the exercise is worth its while.

Call their customer service, visit their website, check them out on mass media, billboards in the city you name it > all re-branded. But, the name of the network/service provider that is being displayed on my phone still reads 'Hutch'. Someone, somewhere in Vodafone has not done his/her homework right.

Find Mr. Fixit..sooner the better especially when you are entering a new market as big as India. I concede we don't live in a perfect world. But then one should stick to the basics and do the basics right.

Opinionated Rules

What I like about rules : *Rules* bring in discipline, *Rules* reinforce a structure, *Rules* are like the guiding light and *Rules* are needed.

What I loathe about rules : Oh man, I am going straight for the jugular. Human beings are far too resourceful and they will find a loophole in any *rule*. We are error prone and we can never write a 100% loophole proof *rule*. Loopholes are important as well, as they form the basis for refinement of the existing *rules*. More than anything, I would just want to see if I can get away with finding loopholes in all the *rules* that I have to follow. The sketch that you see on top right of this page is my attempt at finding a loophole in one of the many *rules* I have to follow.

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I work for this brand conscious company - Freeze moment : 'V' for Vain, 'V' for Vinayakan. This company is just hyper sensitive about its brand value getting tarnished. Something like, if you fart in public - do whatever - we don't care, but don't tell anyone that you work with us! Sorry fellows, I have to make this *rule* up as I can not let out one of your original *rules* because I have to comply with your other set of *rules*. All employees are bound by *rules* to not write the company name, use its logo in any of their personal blogs. What if, one fine day this company decides to let loose all of its passionate employees on cyberspace. Aren't they are off to a flying start, 50,000+ brand ambassadors straight away. If the company isn't sure whether its employees are passionate or not , it is a different story altogether.

In a globalised world (we have just scratched the surface) two things have to move with complete disregard to the boundaries that are created by *rules*. Those are People & Thoughts.

*Rules* are important so are policies but don't be paranoid about the whole damn thing. Ironically, the spanking new state of the art building that I have moved into couple of months ago is not branded yet! So much for managing the brand image on cyberspace with some *rules*.

One Up On Twenty20

Last time India won the World Cup I was 11 months old. Hell yes it has been a long wait, so what if it is in the newest format of the game?

Days of Fifty50 cricket are numbered. Twenty20 is the way to the future and if ICC is looking to globalise the game then they have got their formula right. India has a head start in this format and that makes me feel pretty damn good.

Is MSD a good captain? Is this side fielding like hungry tigers? Perhaps too soon to call.