Friday, February 24, 2012

Perspective. Aspiration. Ambition. Working for a paycheck -

There's an old story about two men working on a railroad track many years back. As they are laying track in the heat of the day, a person drives by in a car and rolls down the window (not enough to let the air conditioning out, but enough to be heard). He yells, "Tom, is that you?' Tom, one of the men working on the track, replies, "Chris, it's great to see you! It must have been 20 years...How are you?" They continue the conversation and Chris eventually drives off. When he leaves, another worker turns to Tom and says, " I know that was the owner of the railroad and he's worth nearly a billion dollars. Hoe do you know him? " Tom replies, "Chris and I started working on the railroad, laying track, on the same day 20 years ago. The only difference between Chris and me is that I came to work for $ 1.25/hours and he came to work for the railroad."

- Special thanks to my friend, Ghanshyam Wagle for sharing this invaluable insight differentiating the mundane from the achievers.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Advertisement Effectiveness


Marketing and advertising continue to dazzle and at times puzzle the curious corner inside me or for that matter anyone. For a product/service or anything under the sun that needs to be sold, one needs a buyer . There are instances where sheer word of mouth publicity brings lots of recognition to a product/service, but is restricted mostly for local markets. Not every product/service though can be sold so easily or else we would have to shut our shop and scout for employment ourselves.

One may often face this situation as a budding entrepreneur – even though a necessary expense, how much should one spend on advertising? A product or service underutilized burns a big hole in the pocket and an ineffective advertisement campaign done with improper tools and understanding may even dig a bigger hole. It’s a big dilemma for the person interested to invest and try the route, if it is blemished with similar experiences of his peers. Effectiveness is the key which is measured in most of the cases with the quantity of response and in rare cases the effects are not for direct measurement but for creating brand awareness by supporting a social cause or a CSR activity of the company.

Advertising guru David Ogilvy once said, ‘When I write an advertisement I don’t want you to tell me that you find it creative. I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product. When Aeschines spoke, they said “How well he speaks.” But when Demonsthenes spoke, they said, “Let us march against Phillip.” 

It is a real challenge to catch attention of the target audience within a limited budget, but surely there are ways if acceptable to the client? Secondly, the efforts you put in advertising /marketing are directly related to the sales volume if done in a right way. 

 










A great communication partner helps you to create the necessary impact after understanding your budgetary constraints and paints the true picture of possible outcomes for alternatives available had the budget been good. The strategy could be to follow an action plan which includes a step up approach where investments are prudently done matching the results. This action plan can have least expensive approached to start with followed by some aggression as and when the gap reduces between the possible expenses and allotted ones.

CEO of Ryan Air said, ’Forget all the ponytails that come and give you some creative nonsense. The only test of your advertisement: does it make customer want to buy your product? Can your ad increase your revenues?’ 

Creative concepts, imagery and other expenses in making an effective campaign should be considered wisely as your client needs to see his money’s worth along with the fact that at times you may have to disagree with him for you are the only expert in letting him understand the repercussions minus his fancies and you are the only one who has studied the demography /psychography of his client in greater details after a thorough research.

A brand and communication consultant such as blossoms can work with you every step of the way to create a campaign that increases your sales numbers within a modest budget, if need be.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Taking the Plunge

Within each of us there is an inner compass. It points to the final fact beyond which analysis cannot take you. You need to draw on that inner resource and follow it. 'Fine, let me take the plunge,' you must be willing to say. That will win the day for you, because with the most foolproof document, you may lose the deal. Shakespeare said, 'Indecision is in itself grief.'
Quoting Brutus from Julius Caesar :
There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures.


(Simply Fly, Captain Gopinath)

Monday, February 20, 2012

Albert Camus's Myths of Sisyphus

Albert Camus tells the story of a man, Sisyphus, whose task is to roll a stone upto the top of a hill. He doesn't know why he has to do it, but does it everyday of life. That is god's punishment. When the stone reached the top, it rolls down and Sisyphus has to begin all over again. It is futile, meaningless labour. The gods thought the best way to punish recalcitrant humans is to make them much like the toil of Sisyphus. People do not love what they do, but do it nonetheless for the money it brings. The tragedy today, as was the case with Sisyphus, is that workers have no idea of the value they bring in.

(Simply Fly, Capt Gopinath)

Saturday, February 11, 2012























Spread the love this Valentine's Day. blossom with your loved ones and make life merrier. Team blossoms





Monday, February 6, 2012

Your feedback is appreciated

Dear Friends
In the event, you happen to visit our blog, kindly take time to comment on the work we do. Your appreciation will act as sunlight for a sunflower to bloom further and criticism could be welcomed as a guiding light for improvement in our future journey.
Hope you would oblige us with the invaluable inputs from time to time

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Folder and Inserts Design for Emulsichem Lubricants

Client - Emulsichem Lubricants Pvt. Ltd., Pune
Requirements - To design a folder for the client with information of the company in the folder. Separate inserts were designed in sync with the folder design on which the client can take prints of the technical specifications of its vast variety of products.
Recommendation - In case of special requirements with respect to water hardness, working conditions, application etc  changes in the composition of the product become inevitable for best results. A permanent literature for any product would not have been a better option and hence a blank insert was recommended. A four page folder giving the information of the company, its virtues etc with a pouch provided to carry the inserts was also designed.