Dive deep into business, brand and strategy.
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Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, The Canadian Newcomers Edition
Over the weekend, I found myself on a sun-drenched Toronto patio, engrossed in conversations with fellow immigrants about our experiences integrating into Canadian society. Each story, filled with trials, triumphs, and moments of levity, seemed to echo the narrative of the 1992 Bollywood classic “Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman.” A common thread in our tales was…
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Selling is not helping. Helping is selling.
Though its origin remains a mystery, this nugget of wisdom is the crux of our discourse today. But first, a bit of context. During my tenure at a creative agency, my primary role was to bring in new business and strategize. The question that often arose was, “How do you land such big accounts?” Well,…
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Hang on a Minute, You Still Read, Don’t You?
Well, well, well. There’s this quirky little rumor flying around that folks like you and I don’t read anymore. They say we’ve all turned into screen-staring zombies, hypnotized by flashy images, and swiping past anything that demands more than a two-second peek. Is that what you’ve heard too? Now, isn’t that just the oddest thing?…
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How to design like a writer
Dear design leaders, I invite you to adopt a new perspective – design like a writer. Intrigued? Allow me to explain. In the whirlwind of user personas, journey maps, and frameworks, we often forget to zoom out, losing sight of the story we are trying to tell. So engrossed are we in the function and…
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The Label Game: The Fashionable Art of Pretense
“They say the clothes make the man,” quipped Mark Twain. Well, if that’s true, then the brands must be making a killing. Picture this: I’m on the phone with my dad, defending my latest splurge on a high-end branded t-shirt, and he’s schooling me on the merits of a thrifty $5 tee. Oh, the joys…
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Break the rules or sharpen your pencil.
Growing up, my peers labelled me the ultimate nonconformist, the oddball who didn’t fit the mould, the “tomato potato.” I was like the Banksy of my elementary school, minus the actual talent. But, to be honest, I couldn’t have cared less about what they thought. Who were they to judge? The offspring of punctuality aficionados?…
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Qualifying vs Discovery
The common mistake many of us make is confusing these two. They are not the same. In my early days of running an agency, I thought I had it all figured out – I’d do some qualifying and then jump straight into discovery. Yet, the results were sometimes better than I’d hoped, and I soon…
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Building Human Connections Before Blockchain: An Inside Out Approach to Web3 Companies
Jawaharlal Nehru (Former Prime Minister of India) and Le Corbusier were the OG Web3 founders! Hear me out! A significant global shift is underway. Businesses worldwide are embracing Web3 technologies – decentralized systems powered by blockchain – and Artificial Intelligence (AI) at a pace that could make your head spin. The promise is a utopia…
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High-resolution conversations
How can you show up to conversations to understand the client better or, when talking to a friend or colleague, help them uncover their true challenge? TL;DR — Be more childlike. The first thing is metacognition — being aware of your thinking. For example, do I have an agenda? Am I just waiting for the…
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How do you sell your ideas? A Creative Director’s perspective
One question I get frequently asked is, “How did you convince the client into rebranding?” or “How did you get approval on that idea?” when the client appeared to be conservative or rigid or needed education about design. And the truth is, I never convinced them because they didn’t need convincing. So I’d say that if you’re approaching a client to…
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Do you sell the drill or the hole? Putting the urban legend to rest #sales
Today, we’ll challenge the age-old chestnut, what your customer is buying: the drill or the hole? Spoiler alert, none! They’re neither buying the drill nor the hole. And this urban legend story has been used by sales and marketing people to help others identify the difference between a product and its benefits. In our example,…
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How a poor villager’s story from the Indian desert taught me human-centered design
Today’s story takes me back a decade ago when I was at the Northpoint Centre of Learning doing my post-grad in Marketing, Media, and Communications. One day, I had the chance to participate in a workshop by Mr. Premjeet Sodhi, the President of Lintas Media Group at the time. In that workshop, Premjeet shared a…
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