Brand Value

A couple of days back, I happened to glance at a magazine Nitin was reading. From the black-and-white page, one word (Bubble, to be precise) in large font and multi-colored letters, stood out. My immediate response was "What is this article about Google ?" While Nitin described the article, a concious thought appeared in my mind - how did I ever, almost unconciously, associate the article with Google. All I had seen was a word written in red-blue-yellow-green letters - the colors in the logo of Google. What an amazing brand establishment. And recognition!
A brief discussion on "Brand" creation and marketing ensued. Although we have seen the "Brand" at work (and play) innumerous times, it never ceases to amaze me. I am still surprised at the Google incident. And amused to hear about my colleague's two-year-old son (who cannot yet read, and who has not yet developed a special taste for burgers) displaying excitement at the sight of a slightly curved M.

One night at the call centre

One Night at the Call Centre

This weekend I finished the much-hyped (and much-bashed) book by Chetan Bhagat. I was rather disappointed by this book. Although almost all the reviews I had read about it in the papers had thumbed it down, I still had hopes; but well, they were meant not to be. After I had read one-third of the book, I was not particulary interested or enthused to finish it - something that does not happen with me often.

The book is about six people working in night shifts in a team in a call centre, the doom of which is imminent. The book talks of their personal and professional crises, and in the end they set on their way to triumphing over their setbacks.

So, what do I think is wrong with it? That it is very superficial and shallow. Although the setting is new, the story is trite and cliched. Probably I have read too many books with a similar underlying plot, but with much better treatment. It appears that the author has tried to make the emotional upheavel of the characters as the main focus of the book, but the depiction has no depth. The solution they figure out for their professional problems sounds very unrealistic. On the whole, it feels like an account of few of the problems faced by working people, borrowed from miscellaneous sources, and patched (I wont call it "woven") into a story. Even the narration in first person lacks conviction, which was a big plus in his first book, Five Point Someone.