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The future of corporates will be run by autodidacts, not business school graduates.

  Youtube, masterclass, online training modules, etc. are the future of skill-based training and knowledge sharing, especially after the shift to virtual tools due to the pandemic. It is graduation season. Every third post on my LinkedIn is about someone getting into some business school almost every day. As much as I am proud of my friends for having cracked their CATs and GMATs, I also have a lot of friends  who pursued careers in the creative industries, given I did my graduation in liberal studies. Most of these creatives I know have bettered their skills during the college days, while attending classes of random subjects, giving exams. Most of them took mentorship from the seniors who were in the university clubs, and there were the others who went online for skill sharpening, making art, trying and failing, and trying in their hostel rooms. This made me realize that the tuition that the parents of these kids were paying was for the community experience of the university, and noth
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Ensuring success in pitching over video calls

The post-COVID world will ensure elevator pitches to not only be unwelcomed but also unsanitary. Starting stat, entrepreneurs will have to start pitching over zoom calls, since not just skype, but even elevator pitches have become a thing of the past.  Entire organizations, nay, economies are moving to digital. Google has asked its employees to work from home until the end of the year 2021. Twitter has made sure their employees can work from home indefinitely and has also promised allowances to build home offices for its employees. This has not only ensured global access to the talent pool for companies that will not be limited by geography. For investors and entrepreneurs, this has ensured presenting pitches via video calling even if they are neighbors. Apart from the technical and technological aspect, which includes a solid uninterrupted connection to the internet, and professional attire at least above the waist, there are quite a few things that, if taken care of, can increase the

The matter in the manifestos.

Why has no one created a manifesto strong enough to move markets since Apple’s  Think Different?   We, as a branding studio have been in business for quite a few years now. We have created enough brands, conducted ample research, and built truly timeless identities to be here, today to ask the world, why are we not creating brand manifestos anymore? What does it mean to manifest? In a spiritual sense, manifesting means to desire something, and believing it so hard, it becomes reality. In a dictionary sense, to manifest is more in the lines of demonstration, to show, to bring something into reality, to make something synonymous with the evident, to make something apparent to the senses. In some other vague terms, it is to materialize something intangible. What are brand manifestos? A brand manifesto is a generous mixture of all the above meanings. In reference to the idea of a brand, a manifesto is the reason for a brand’s existence. It is an inspired, powerful, navigating piece of bran

Branding is more primal than you think.

No, apes (as a species) did not ask for a bigger logo. Although, they did exhibit traits that substantiate the concept of branding.   Years of corporate culture and its most significant element- the jargon has resulted in this perception about branding which is nowhere near what it truly is. For some, branding is the logo, For some, it is the product. For some, branding is marketing, But, for a small chunk, it is actually that intangible feeling that drives us beings. You don’t have to think twice before recognizing which one of the above is eligible to build brands. The idea of ‘a brand’ has been around for about 5000 years. Primates arose 55 million years ago. It is not important to know when and why we started branding, as much as knowing how we did. The aim of this piece is to realize the essence of branding as a concept, as a philosophy. Let’s get back to primates again. We evolved from mammals. What makes us the alleged ‘superior’ species or a species that is different from any o

Where do you draw the line on a strategy that capitalizes on a crisis?

Hear ye, hear ye. No, literally. It is time to listen to your audience before you communicate.   The world does not necessarily have to come to a halt when it is facing a crisis. Even when we are talking about a pandemic that has literally become a reason to exercise staying at home to make sure that we maintain social distancing and do not become carriers of a deadly virus. Economies are going to face the fire of this halt. Companies will have to cut down on expenses to avoid bringing down the shutters. For a lot of companies, this might even mean laying off employees to stay afloat. If you are a conspiracy theory enthusiast or a closeted Marxist, you might think that corona was invented by Zoom to get more people to start video calling? But then again, Zoom updated its free use policy from capping video calls at 40 minutes to an unlimited amount of time. And that is exactly what this piece is about. What is happening? Everyone is on the internet. Audiences are consuming more and more

The secret to a good client-designer relationship

Is the client really over-expecting or is the designer failing them?   Date:  April 22, 2020 at 2:44:05 AM PST From:  Michael Scott <mike@tantrum.com> To:  all@slangbusters.com Subject:  Design changes Hey, This is regarding our call yesterday. I loved the presentation you did for the identity of my brand, and although I said I liked all the elements and we are good to go, I was pondering last night after the presentation and I would like some changes. Let me know when can we schedule a call to discuss some concepts I have in mind. Best, Mike Date:  April 22, 2020 at 3:02:25 AM PST From:  Michael Scott <mike@tantrum.com> To:  all@slangbusters.com Subject:  Re: Design changes You know what, let me give you the inputs here only, I might forget later, and this will keep the conversation in the records. So the iconography, I feel is too unrecognizable? I would like moe Apple-esque round edges. Date:  April 22, 2020 at 3:06:01 AM PST From:  Michael Scott <mike@tantrum.com>