Earth Hour - Viral marketing for a cause!

Earth Hour: 28th March 2009 - Following the green dream!
Facts (Courtesy Wiki) :Earth Hour is a global event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Earth hour was conceived by WWF and the Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights. Following Sydney's lead, many other cities around the world adopted the event in 2008.


Viral marketing: Viral marketing describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence.


Earth hour was definitely a viral campaign with a purpose. Several countries across the world and several individuals with "earth consciousness" made an earnest effort to create awareness and also acknowledge the fact that earth needs your help to survive and a cumulative effort is essential for this objective to be fulfilled.

Taking this forward

I guess I've told you whatever is necessary about myself at this point in time. From now on my posts will be relevant to marketing, advertising trends, travel, brands, food and books.

How my career turned out... The story so far

My first job was with an IT major. An engineering degree in electrical and electronics doesn't exactly put you in top gear for a career as a software engineer. After a rather rosy honeymoon in far away lands during my induction program, the harsh realities of the job did me in. Roped in as a programmer I did not exhibit either voluntary or forced interest in my job. I remember the long days that seemed longer because of my clueless existence. The job weighed on my mind like a ton of bricks. I wasn't going anywhere with the job and it wasn't getting me anywhere either. So after several long coffee breaks, a few brave attempts to salvage lost pride and long uneventful journeys to my workplace, I parted company with my first job.

A long period of disllusionment with the world and self doubt followed. The halo around my life had now disappeared. I doubted my abilities. Infact I didn't know what they were. I groped in darkness for a while. A few tears, laments, confusion and advice followed.

After a long period of tormenting idleness the door of hope creaked and opened slightly to let a ray of sunlight into my life. I landed another job in an advertising agency. It wasn't a merry ride. People smoking into my face and an unruly studio coupled with the fact that I was an outsider with no insight whatsoever about the industry wasn't a very encouragind beginning.

I handled it. I handled it badly.

I kept looking for options to move out. I landed my third job with another advertising firm. Soothing balm. I could breathe a little. I took some time to understand, adjust and look at the industry. It gave me some breathing space, induced a wee bit of confidence in myself.

Fast fwd mode ------> Groaned, whined, took my GMATand failed miserably after a lot of preparation -------> Plunged into great depression-------> Had my family and friends for support---->Took it up again --->scored well --------> Right now am headed to MICA!

My bucket list -Things I wanna do before I kick that BLUE bucket!

1) Pick up my writing skills
2)Plant 100 trees
3)Raise 3 dogs
4)Trek to 150 places
5)Go on a week long holiday to an isolated island
6)Perform in a theatre
7)Figure as a valuable player in a team sport
8)Read a book every week
9)Learn one new fact a day
10)Adopt a "Don't worry be happy" policy!

Sholay - Ramesh Sippy

This movie definitely had spunk. Why did Sholay work?
* It connected with the 70's audience (duuuuuuh... obviously) - It had everything that the 70's Indian audience looked for in a movie. Story, masala, sizzling heroines, tempered violence ...!
*The actors: The choice of the cast was really good. Sanjeev Kapoor as Thakur and Amjadh Khan as Gabbar stole the show with their ability to get into the skin of the character.
*Revenge, friendship, sacrifice, loyalty and the eventual victory of good over evil are themes that never fail to tug ones heart. These themes were portrayed authentically in the movie.
*The dialogues and the dialogue delivery were exemplary. For example:
"Kitne aadmi the"
"Tera kya hoga kaliya"
"Itnaa sannata kyun hain bhai"
"Jo Darr gaya samjho mar gaya"
*Jai and Veeru add dashes of humor, friendship, love, romance and sacrifice to the movie. There is a whole gamut of emotions to explore.
*The dialogues, posters, story, characters and the songs formed a source of great viral marketing (I've never watched this movie before but I've heard the dialogues and the songs a number of times. It's always in the back of my mind.)
*The movie also advocates social messages such as widow re-marriage, hindu-muslim unity and so on.

Thanda funda

Here are some ways to beat the heat.
1) Wear light cotton clothes
2)Step out for a 5:30 - 6:30 am walk. Catch the freshness in the air
3)Drink some watermelon juice
4) Have a light breakfast (Preferably fruits and cream)
5)Start out earlier than usual to work and beat the late morning heat
6)Drink plenty of water while at work
7)Take scheduled breaks to relax in some cool part of the building
8)Wash your face with cold water
9)Take a cold water bath before you go to bed
10)Dip cucumber pieces in cold water and place them over your eyes before you go to bed
11)Schedule strenuous activities during the cooler part of the day

Why I blog

This is my first post. Everyone starts blogging for a reason. My reason is simple. I spotted a single strand of silver hair on my head. You might say that's no reason to start blogging and rightly so! But it just reminded me of my bucket list that keeps growing by the minute and writing a blog that people can relate to, ranked quite high on the list. Thus my journey as a blogger begins.... once again...!