Business Today or LMD?

There’s a debate in the market about the better business magazine: is it the Lanka Monthly Digest (LMD) or the Business Today (BT)?

A good business magazine is something that provides me with information that helps me make better business decisions. It should keep me in-the-know, provide me with insights and tricks of the trade. It should be something that‘s worth investing in the subscription, and it should be something collectible and filled with stuff I’d like to remember. Hopefully, it should arm me with the knowledge that sets me apart from the rest, apart from my peers.

I took two copies of either magazine, flipped through and kept them back. A day later, I still remembered what was in BT, while LMD had nothing memorable inside. Perhaps its the way the articles are presented (layout) in BT or the content itself. Perhaps the “template” look of LMD makes every page, every issue look monotonous that nothing stands out.

Then, comes the most important question: Content. Business Today has got it right in the mix. Not perfect, but good enough. LMD’s biggest sin – it presents articles that are suitable for newspapers, not magazines. I could keep a BT for 10 years and still learn from the articles; while LMD carries news that’s too old by the time the magazine hits the newsstand.

I have also heard the argument about foreign contributors to BT while LMD has a pool of local contributors. In my opinion, the two styles are a world apart, and they are a world apart in value and content too. I’m blessed to have international business wisdom at my hand for half the price; and I have very rarely seen an original write-up from a local contributor that’s on par with the world. Our writers lack substance, there’s no meat and there’s no meaning. No disrespect to anyone intended, but that’s my humble opinion.

The key difference: LMD is business news and BT is business knowledge.

News gets old, knowledge doesn’t.

The Next Big Thing on Showtime

Stayed up almost all night watching Weeds.

Weeds is an American comedy television series revolving around a young, recently widowed, single mother trying to cope with her troublesome two sons and trying to make a living by selling ganja to the affluent – including the city councilman. Funny, witty, insightful and very well written; its just beautiful to watch.

Currently in its fourth season, Weeds attracted 1.3 million viewers to Showtime, the highest ever for the channel.

Sri Lanka needs to break-away from the crap that’s on tv and offer the viewers something that’s worth watching and something that’s stimulating. Meaningful entertainment, brain-food perhaps. Definitely not a daily dose of imported Indian crap: rapists and child-molesters making love to each other. Maha-gedara is a good title and bad content. Weeds on the other hand, is a bad (?) title, but good content.

Going back to Weeds here’s a bit of dialogue that stuck in my head. Andy, the young-US-Army-volunteer, is having a conversation with Doug, the city councilman – seeking his help to withdraw from the call-of-duty.

Andy: “I’m not going to Iraq to fight in some bullshit war about oil money..!”

Doug: “Bullshit war?? What about 9/11? Didn’t Iran hide the terrorists?”

A: “We are fighting a war in I-R-A-Q Doug, and neither country has anything to do with blowing up the World Trade Centre..!”

D: “Well... they both have SAND...”

A: ”Bush invaded a sovereign nation in defiance of the UN. He’s a war criminal, and now I’m supposed to be one of his disposable thugs with a f**king target on my head in the middle of the desert, waiting to be blown up by a car bomb rigged by a 12 year old who loved Friends and Metallica until one of our missiles blew up his house..? I don’t think so!”

D: “Well... whatever...” [grabs a key from the drawer and stands up]

D: “Look, I’ve got a lotta’ shit to do...”

A: “You name me one thing you have to do that’s more important than the corporate takeover of our democracy..!”

[Doug holding up the bathroom key]
“I’ve gotta take a shit...”

Brand Ambassadors: SLT goes for a Ride

I have been meaning to update my blog for a while, but never got around to doing it. So here goes, starting with something along the lines of my work: advertising.

Advertising in Sri Lanka is still at its infancy, with a rare gem popping out once in a while. Our advertising has not evolved far from its beginning. The age old “viridu kaaraya” (man beating a hand-held drum and singing along – typically promoting an event or relating a story) is still very much alive, albeit inside the television in a 21st century outlook. Turn the television on – and one will be amazed by the countless number of ads that are jingles. We seem to take pride in producing them by the numbers. Lack of talent, lack of understanding or lack of inspiration... I fail to understand the reason why we cannot go beyond the basics and evolve with the times.

In the beginning of my career, one of my mentors once whispered in my ear when I was having a creative block: “If you don't know what to do, just sing it...!” he said, with a cheeky grin on his face. Singing, or a jingle, is the way out for creative idiots.

For those pea-brains who can evolve a step from the jingles, there's a neat trick called the testimonials. You don't do anything creative - just get someone else to endorse the brand or the product. Period. This was a dream come true for the watchmakers of the world and they discovered brand ambassadors.

Then, a zillion years later, someone somewhere in Colombo got confused with the pin-up model and the brand ambassador, because his pea-brain didn't know any difference. But since he had a MBA at the end of the name, he was dogs bollocks and now everyone in the paradise isle thinks, a model is a brand ambassador.

So much so, big brands like Dialog is confusing itself with the number of personalities attached to a particular product or service, and unfortunately the ambassadors seem to have overshadowed the brand. Ideally, the brand/product should be piggy-back riding on the celebrity to catapult to reach a wider audience and gain mind-share, not vise versa.

A few months earlier I saw a press release, as well as a few articles announcing the appointment of the South Indian film star Pooja Umashankar as the Sri Lanka Telecom's "Broadband Brand Ambassador." To me, this was a shocker – for I, could not fathom how did that combination work.

Even though I could think of many, this weird communication strategy was total failure in my eyes for three obvious reasons:

1. If I were to define the personality of the product SLT is offering (ie. broadband), i would be scribbling down a list of adjectives that include words such as speedy, fast, quick, hi-tech, revolutionary, reliable, masculine, strong, competitive, powerful etc – and I won't be thinking of petite, feminine, delicate or pretty for sure. I do not know if Pooja is hot or not, or fast or not, but she is definitely not masculine, nor is she strong and competitive. Pooja and broadband are a chalk-and-cheese combination, a total mismatch, a huge mistake.

If it were up to me to pick a brand ambassador to represent SLT Boradband, I could have named a dozen personalities starting from the racing champion Dilantha Malagamuwa and the speedster in the cricket pitch Lasith Malinga – whose characteristics would have very well complemented the core values of the product SLT is offering.

SLT Broadband is not a pretty face with a delicate touch. What were they thinking..?

2. Usually, someone who endorses a brand/product is a loyal user, and they would not, ethically and morally violate the trust (or the agreement signed) by using a competitive product. As I understand, Pooja is an Indian, living in India, probably using.... SLT Broadband to surf the net...?

How can a brand ambassador endorse one product/brand and use another..?

3. Never lose focus, glorify the brand not the brand ambassador. Media loves Pooja they wrote about her more than the brand. Not only she got the money, but free publicity too, at SLT's cost.

Spend millions to promote Pooja and not SLT - who's running this campaign - morons..?

Is this some kind of a sick joke played on SLT? Or is it an amateur work or a genuine blunder? I do not know. Understanding brand values is key to successful brand building, and the giants in advertising and the giants in spending don't seem to know this. Obviously.

But then again, I may be wrong. Twenty years with international agencies working with FMCG giants overseas could be wrong, because the Marketing and Sales Officer of SLT said in a press conference "Pooja is the perfect ambassador and also she is also an enthusiastic user of the wireline broadband services..."

How? I wonder.

God bless the ad industry in Sri Lanka.