Entities are realizing the importance of the promise that the “brand publishers” hold. And if not a huge brand, smaller ones are making their presence felt to a large extent. Since it just not enough to let people know about “who” are “what” are you but also make them familiar with what makes you different, organizations are taking their online marketing strategies much more seriously than ever before. So while a jewelry retailer might have a technical description to his product-offerings, the essentials will be accompanied with adornments like a catchy tagline or a flashing category name to the jewelry.

In the digital world, it is widely being agreed that content creation is demanding while automation is simply not engaging. So what’s the remedy, content curation of course. Take a hint or two from the gurus themselves:

Rebecca LiebVice President, North America at Econsultancy who has also authored a book “The Truth About Search Engine Optimization”, says, “In an era where marketing is supplanting advertising and storytelling is an ever-more essential part of the marketing message, carefully curated content – well presented – is an immense brand asset, be it to a humble, over-caffeinated individual blogger or a Fortune 100 company.”

David merman Scott, the author of New Rules of Marketing & PR and World Wide Rave is a huge fan of content syndication. He says it is “great stuff”. But for him the geatness gets mellowed down by the challenges that the technique poses. For him it is a choice between humans or machines.

Ann Handley Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs believes that “It’s a way for organizations to further their role as a resource to their audience. What’s more, for organizations just getting into publishing online — for those just starting a blog, say, or a microsite — curated content can allow them to ramp up quickly, both from an SEO as well as content perspective” she adds.

Content curation is a technique that will surely take the withered content marketing industry far ahead in the near future. It is not just about a brand producing valuable and informative content but also the best way of engaging third-party content and inspiring action.

When you are watching Johnny Depp, you need to remember just one thing – you may get whacked!! This is no surprise for people who prefer Hollywood over Bollywood. The fact that greater bulks of Hindi movies do not have the ability to equal the might of art and craft of a Hollywood flick is easily understood when you love dozing off with your eyes glued on the screen. Well, i definitely do not wish to demean or demoralize all Bollywood lovers. However, one should be smart enough to accept the fact that being served with films like ‘Lagaan’ and ‘Forrest Gump’ simultaneously, one would prefer the latter one quite obviously. The reason behind my senses going gaga over Hollywood flicks rests on Tim Burton’s “Sweeney Todd”. I know there are better choices than that, but I won’t mind soaking the heat of appreciation that it has generated in my psyche.

A Unique Experimentation with Music

People who have already watched the movie will definitely agree to this – musically horrifying! The film makes you realize that including compositions in stage performances can be pictured with enhanced charm in the silver screen. The film is a musical treat for those who find it difficult to watch a movie without a ‘hit’ number. You know what I mean – don’t you? However, the absolute musical genius of Danny Elfman surfaces out quite clearly in the movie. Music remains the driving force of the film till the end. Director Tim Burton’s vision was way beyond the traditional approach of including music after a certain patch of dialogues. Music has always been the greatest healers to human emotions. It is through music that a human is able to vent out all his emotions quite artfully. Most of the characters in the film were going through the toughest times of their lives.

Johnny Depp Singing – Really?

That Johnny Depp could sing and sing with such perfection, was an absolute surprise for his fans all over the world. People were stunned with his extraordinary vocal ability. Sweeney Todd’s avenging desire could have been better portrayed than this. The dark and empty chamber reflecting the brooding and dark emotions hovering around Todd’s mind gelled well with the character of the movie. Synchronizing blood and gore with music has never been an easy to offer menu for the filmmakers all over the world. Also, when it comes to commercial platform, being able to deliver the optimum amount of entertainment is a big ask! “Sweeney Todd” succeeds immensely in this regard. The inclusion of voices of all actors in the film would have been a suicidal decision on the part of the director. Now, he must be the happiest man on earth! Every single actor in the movie delivered their best singing skills – something they would not have imagined in their wildest dreams!!

Anyone Can Sing

Talking about the actors in the movie – I have no words to say. Of course Johnny Depp stands out in one of his most horrifying characters, but Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin and Timothy Spall as Beadle also deliver equally memorable and spell bounding performances. Each time Johnny Todd slits a throat, he looks terrifyingly scary and cold. The film is replete with nerve-wrecking scenes and there’s no denial about this. However, music is one such factor which will make you fall in love with the movie. I would definitely say this – the film is not for the weak hearts, but go and watch it for Johnny Depp’s remarkable and merciless barber act.

A few years back, marketing activities for a newly started business was all about documenting strategies and designing the marketing activities and plans to be executed for print media. The traditional marketing systems involved high advertisement cost and there was no effective way to measure the reach. Even though the content was high on creativity and had the right elements to tap the market, it was not backed by technology.

Times changed, ideas changed and one thing that definitely changed was the effectiveness of marketing. Facebook pages replaced the banners on roads; ads on websites replaced ads in newspapers, blogging replaced flyers and so on. Internet Marketing has revolutionized the way advertising functions. Online marketing is a win-win situation for any business. Even if does not succeed, there is absolutely no loss. The most successful and interesting way of internet marketing is social media marketing. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are a few channels that have formed a base for online marketing and have nurtured and witnessed the growth of many businesses.

Social Media Marketing (SMM) works on a simple idea- there is a large chunk of people who look up to internet to fulfill their needs of networking. These individuals need their dose of entertainment and are often looking for something new. This is where your presence makes a difference. You need to identify the target audience, popularize your page and get them to talk about you. SMM employs the modern concepts of marketing and you need not shell out money for any activity that you conduct. All you need to do is create an account, update it from time to time and make your presence intriguing. It allows the optimization of creativity and lets you utilize the space in a customized way. Social media satisfies the need of marketing to reach the right people and engage them in all its activities.

Another way of generating traffic is blogging. Web blogs are a lucrative way to communicate and get honest feedback. Your blogs may provide the latest news about your product/brand/business and provide information about it. And let’s not forget the best part- it’s free from any cost. Blogs do not have the icon that says ‘Payment options’. You can set up your own blog and promote your business.

The advertising industry today has reached an exceptional stature where creativity has whirled things around to come up with ads for brands in such a way that it creates an extraordinary impact on the audience. With cut throat competition among brands trying just to be one step ahead of the other, brainstorming innovations brings out advertisements in front of you that you may have never imagined of.

In this booming advertising industry where television commercials are suppose to be the most expensive and much hyped ones with digital media just following behind, print media is also strapping up their boots for the war. Even though print media is one of the oldest medium of advertisement its caliber should not be doubted. With all the frenzy over electronic media and the new age young player, digital media, the influence of tabloids have also seen their own part of evolution. The number of audience that a newspaper can reach out to, it is hardly possible for electronic or digital media to reach there.

Advertisements in Print media have seen a tremendous shift in the past few years. They can leave an unforgettable impression on the minds of the audience and are believed that they have the caliber to build a brand image. Print media is no longer treated as an underdog and the result is what we see on our daily news papers every morning. Creating a Print ad that creates a massive impact is indeed a daunting task but it can however be successful in making the brand the ‘talk of the town’. There are many print ads that have been thriving in amazing audience with their innovation. The most recent print ad that created frenzy was the Sunday Times print ad on 19th February 2012, Sunday of Bru Gold, where they have printed a huge picture at the bottom of the newspaper of the Bru jar with coffee spilled all around and 100% written on it. The ad surely was successful in giving you the feel of the coffee aroma with the newspaper. This brilliant execution of the idea came from Bharat Kapadia. Another Print ad that you will instantly remember will be the one for Volkswagen Jetta again on TOI, when the entire news paper was tinted in silver for the promotion of the brand, and the talking news paper in last year September for the same brand in the same tabloid; these ads were innovated by Ogilvy India.

These print ads immediately stimulate your brain cells and remind you of it at the slightest mentioning about them. Therefore I say that print ads will never lose its charm and go on amazing people over the years.

Taglines have always been an interesting element that can spice up the overall look of your websites. Taglines can actually make or break a business because they are considered an important marketing tool in order to catch attention of customers. Taglines help the customers to recall the brand name and relate with them. You must have heard and read a number of taglines, but how many you actually remember will depend on the nature of the tagline. Taglines create a unique identity for the brands. On the other hand, it also educates the customers about the product and service. Now days you will also find websites coming up with different taglines that make them sound interesting and add magic of words through taglines. So, now you know how a simple and interesting line can make a difference for your business. Here are some of the interesting internet taglines.

• Maxim Philippines: The best thing that ever happened to men … after women!
• The Best Page in the Universe: This page is about me and why everything I like is great. If you disagree with anything you find on this page, you are wrong.
• Go Fug Yourself: Fugly is the new pretty.
• Perez Hilton: Celebrity Juice. Not from concentrate.
• TrafficBunnies: Making your hits multiply like rabbits.
• The Sneeze: Half zine. Half blog. Half not good with fractions.
• DumbLittleMan: So what do we do here? Well, it’s simple. 15 to 20 times per week we provide tips that will save you money, increase your productivity, or simply keep you sane.
• YouTube: Broadcast Yourself.

Written and directed by the debutant director Luv Ranjan, the film will remind you of Dil Chahta Hai with the innumerous puns and the bonding between the guys. Calling this film a gender biased yet an interesting script won’t be an assumption. The light hearted comedy is based on the lives of three young bachelors; the plot revolves around their carefree lives, an encounter with love and an ultimate getting back to where they belong, themselves. Rajat (Kartikey Mishra), Liquid (Divyendu Sharma), Chaudhary (Raayo Bakhirta), are flat mates in Delhi and share great chemistry living a typical youngster life, lots of fun and absolutely no responsibilities.

The story changes as three of them find love and deal with the consequences that follow later. Liquid is stuck with a colleague from office and falls in love instantly, but his lady love exploits him to the extent to insulting him in front of the entire office. Rajat finds someone who seems like the perfect one but turns out to be a very demanding and irritating individual in the end. Chaudhary falls for a typical brat, who assures him of Commitment but is still not over her ex and ends up sleeping with him.

What follows later is the typical, already seen sequences with the bunch having fun in Goa, the girls clad in bikini seducing their respective boys. The unknown cast of the film brings freshness and youthful vibe to the story. The film portrays girls as the ultimate villains of every relationship, being dominating and manipulative. The film boasts of great dialogues, some comic punch-lines and brilliant acting by the actors. A lot of youngsters will find their lives similar to that of these characters, though the older generation and the feminists will be thoroughly disappointed with the abusive nature of the boys.

The film is a break from the conventional love stories that end up showing the janam-janam ka pyar between two lovers, though the film has its own weak-points. When making a film with three guys, one expects some action or some sort of a riff, which is absolutely missing from the script. Another problem that it deals with is the speed that it moves at; the film is stretched to inordinate lengths and becomes a real test for the audience. Here’s something that could have been worked upon- the repetition of similar kind of scenes in the film. For instance, all you see happening between Neha and Rajat is the over pouring of emotions. There are a lot of I-love-you-too-babu etc. scenes that become a real bore and could have been easily avoided. Talking of the cinematography, the film does average. Music is by Clinton Cerejo, Hitessh Sonik and Luv Ranjan, which fails to create a buzz. The editing is tolerable and dialogues, completely in sync with today’s lingo of the youngsters.

Talking of the acting, the new comer Divyendu Sharma has stood apart from others with his brilliant acting and seems impressive. The actresses of the film still need some training to improve their prowess in acting. By and large, the film is a must watch, for some funny one-liners and a new treatment to an old subject.

With the advent of digital media, the range of marketing has expanded enormously in the world of business. Since the past decade businesses across the globe has been using a new-fangled way of promoting their businesses through ‘blogs’. It is a term that is shaped by blend of the word web log. Now blogs are nothing but a form of personalized journal that is accessible on the internet. However it has acted as an immensely powerful tool in business promotion. According to a research it is established that in 2012 around 43% of the U.S business firms would be blogging.

It is an extremely easy to use and cost effective way of marketing that can be used by organizations of all sizes. An ordinary blog can be set up online anytime with as much difficulty as to make a Gmail account on the internet. However if a more sophisticated blog is chosen to be setup, it can be installed on a hosted web space. After the installation it becomes child’s play to start writing posts and give instant reactions to the changes in the market trends. Blogs also aid in elevating the SEO of their websites by providing lots of key word rich content.

However the most significant use of blogs in business is that they can reach out to the audiences much easily then before through internet. They indulge in interaction with the readers and in this way analyze consumer behavior. Personalizing the business and building repute in the industry has also become effortless through blogs.

Therefore we may conclude by saying that blogs have brought about some sort of a revolution in the world of internet marketing and it is here to stay.

Time and again we marketers come across terms such as local marketing, global marketing, and even more colorful ones such as grey marketing or green marketing. Glocal seems something new however.

I came across the term first time while flipping through the pages of “Philip Kotler.”Those who have read the book would swear by the magic that it creates. Each time you pick it up and start reading, the words convey a different meaning.

Coming back to “Glocal”, it is basically a strategy pointing at the local approach adopted by global players to gain acceptance in the local markets of a particular country. Say for example Pizza Hut’s “Indian Version of Pizzas, topped with loads of “paneer” and now even “namkeens”.

Another good example to example to explain glocalization would be reality shows. The Indian version of Big Brother namely Big Boss is a marketers well thought about and smartly edited version that converts visual content to be broadcasted in Indian markets, well suited to the Indian audience. Keeping cultural differences between the west and east is typically important in broadcasting industry while venturing into glocalization.

My spell check still doesn’t accept the term glocal; however, Google is smart enough to consider my request whenever I try to search latest going on in the glocal markets. Coined in the 1980’s, the trend is still going strong and one of the impactful ways of reaching a larger audience.

David Ogilvy the ‘Father of Advertising’ has said that in this modern world of business it is useless to be creative original thinkers if you can’t sell what you create. Well now don’t go about thinking that your creativity is for sale. However if you want to sell then your creativity should sell too. In advertising no matter how creative your idea is if it does not help in yielding profits for your clients it is a failure. There was a time in 1960s when copywriters were given recognition and awarded for their creative geniuses ignoring the major intent of advertising which is to generate sales. Ogilvy felt that this act was exploiting the true purpose of adverting. To act upon the matter he launched the David Ogilvy awards that acknowledged the campaign of the advertising agencies that was successful in elevating the repute and generating ultimate sales of their clients. The winners of the award were rewarded 10,000 USD and for the losers what he had to say was: “if you my fellow copywriters or art directors want to win the award, devote your genius to making cash register ring.”

Nonetheless people have this inclination towards creativity that there are copywriters still making ads that would create brand awareness and not actually motivate the target audience towards buying. How much do you think those cute Zoo Zoos influenced you to switch to Vodafone from whatever phone connection you are using right now? But you definitely own one of those t-shirt with Zoo Zoos in them or at the least u have to have a sticker stuck in your refrigerator or phone. And did you actually go to the Benetton store to buy cloths subject to seeing those presidents in a lip-lock? But I am sure you do remember the ad now, don’t you? These advertisements create a frenzy, would make people talk about the product, create awareness however fails to make people to actually come and buy the product.

This marriage of creativity and advertising has always been a topic of debate and will remain so. It is left for the companies to decide how they would want to promote their products and services in the market. Creativity however can never be for sale.

Non- commercial music in India has never got the much appreciation it always deserved. In contrary to a very few bands experimenting with music in 80’s or 90’s when the west was flooded with the likes of Greenday, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses, Aerosmith etc, today there are many talented musicians who are experimenting with music across all genres and styles. The onset of 21^st century saw some great musicians coming together to produce music, India had never heard of. Today, there are some great bands redefining the Indian music culture entirely. Here are a few bands that have done some exceptional work in their music styles paving a way for a music scene across many cities-

Advaita- This band from New Delhi brings together eight talented musicians and their distinct music styles combining classical Indian music with western influence. The eclectic fusion band, as they call themselves has drawn its inspiration from various aspects of culture, love and nature. Their music is bliss to ears and great refreshment for the mind. They are a must to listen to, if you’re a fan of classical Indian music as well as soft western rock. The sarangi played in their music will make you fall in love with the instrument.

Half Step Down- The music created by the four members of this band is as fresh as a spring flower. Incorporating the elements of blues, alt rock, funk and reggae, Half Step Down is a Rock n Roll band from new Delhi, that boasts of huge fan following and is top amongst the music circuits. Their track ’Overture to Overspace’, got them much applaud and the vocalist, Dhaval Mudgal, an instant recognition.

Boomerang- Hailing from the North East hills of Mizoram, the five piece band brings an energetic vibe with their great compositions with the elements of modern rock. These guys have very well managed to get noticed having performed at many festivals and gigs across the country. Listen to them if you have a flair for rock music, they will not disappoint you. More than their music, they are known for a power packed performance on stage.

Jalebee Cartel- The band from New Delhi, is the face of Indian electronic dance music at an international stage. Consisting of three ex-DJ’s, who came together to exploit the best of electronic music. Having been featured on many radio stations across the world, they are the only Indian band experimenting with the club electronic music.

Bhayanak Maut- Very much different from the other bands I have mentioned above, Bhayanak Maut is a heavy metal band from Mumbai. The six member band with two vocalists incorporates a major mix of heavy guitar riffs with driving drums and vocals with heavy screeching. Though not a genre preferred by many, they are the best Indian heavy metal death band. Having performed in various music festivals, they are well recognized and have a huge fan following amongst youngsters.