
A Merger Is Not an Idea
Why the Omnicom - Interpublic deal reveals a deeper failure of imagination in advertising
162 results

Why the Omnicom - Interpublic deal reveals a deeper failure of imagination in advertising

Products succeed when they answer what people feel, not just what they need

A brand’s attempt at relevance and how AI worked for it. An extract from Sangeet Paul Choudary’s new book, “Reshuffle”

Sangeet Paul Choudary in conversation with Shrinath V on how AI is changing business strategy. Part one of the two-part podcast: “The Next Game: Competing When AI Changes the Rules.”

Sangeet Paul Choudary, author of ‘Reshuffle’, in conversation with Shrinath V. The final in a 2-part podcast: ‘The Next Game: Competing When AI Changes the Rules’


SoftBank insider Alok Sama talks about the mind of the investment company’s iconic founder Masayoshi Son, how venture capital operates, the tech bros, India’s true potential, and more

Iconic brands have a strong core. Any attempt to transform the core, driven by big consumer and lifestyle changes, can be particularly tricky, as global sportswear brand Nike discovered recently

Why businesses need a holistic climate action plan. Now!

Propelled by the Toyota and Suzuki partnership, the resurgence of hybrids is a signal that the electric mobility revolution in India may take a lot longer than was assumed

At the heart of the fintech major’s precarious slide lies the abject failure of its Super App strategy. But that’s just one part of the story.

His value lifestyle brand Zudio has caught the attention of the entire retail industry. It also signals a coming of age of retail in small town India

The outlook for fintech companies has shifted from unchecked optimism to uncertainty. The rose-tinted glasses are off and some of the well-funded companies are pivoting. Their future will depend on their ability to look beyond technology as the panacea. Part 1 of a 4-part series

The ground reality has changed. Fintechs are realising that partnerships and ecosystem thinking are key to winning the market, not competing with the incumbents. Part 2 of a 4-part series

Here’s a pattern that I’ve observed throughout my career: incumbents mostly lose; they somehow survive but don’t thrive. An incumbent growing faster than the market over a decade is more an exception, rather than the rule.

Book Review: ‘Sustainable Business Model Design - 45 Patterns’ by Florian Ludeke-Freund, Henning Breuer, and Lorenzo Massa

July 20, 2022: Parle-G versus Udaan; Elon Musk’s madness; Summer explained

July 19, 2022: NSE’s old war horse; Age is just a number; Exponential thinking

July 11, 2022: The superapp fascination; Abe: The original democrat; Critics and artists

June 30, 2022: Business and science; Managing Twitter; Cryptic clues

June 21, 2022: The Sridhar Vembu story; Musk on Twitter; Confusion compounded

The R K Swamy Hansa group remains the last man standing, even as almost all the large homegrown advertising-led groups have thrown in the towel. How did the Swamy brothers, Srinivasan and Shekar, pull it off?
Sridhar Vembu and Sharad Sharma talk about creating resilient, uniquely Indian companies; questioning buzzwords and received wisdom; investing in deep tech; and more

April 18, 2022: What’s new about Tata Neu?; What’s Elon Musk up against?; Mad at aggregators?

April 13, 2022: Teenage sadness; On Sevantibhai of Kolkata; No country for foodies

Hari Menon, co-founder & CEO, BigBasket, deconstructs e-commerce’s latest obsession with superfast delivery

Is it even a super app? Or a coalition loyalty programme? A loyalty business veteran dissects the challenges and complexities the Tatas—and customers—will have to grapple with

April 6, 2022: The evolution of Tata’s super app; The solo capitalist ecosystem; Two factor authentication

March 1, 2022: A Third World Axis?; How 10-minute deliveries work; Theory of relativity

January 17, 2022: Decoding Omicron; The Turing trap; The problem with masses

December 13, 2021: Be customer-obsessed; How to communicate during the pandemic; Why map is not the territory

November 17, 2021: How Indian innovation changed over the last two decades; Death by meetings; Delhi Confidential

Why did the IT major mess up the high-profile government project? No one quite knows the answer. The clues, however, lie in the inherent difficulties in executing tech projects for the government

July 1, 2021: A policy window to make healthcare efficient; How Moderna works; Be mindful

May 7, 2021: The business of ‘sterile’ test swab sticks; Toyota revisits Just in Time; Music for the day: Ode to Joy

EY’s recent report on media and entertainment calls it an industry under renovation. What is changing? How should those in the business look at reinventing the business model? Veterans from the industry discuss the lay of the land

April 16, 2021: The subconscious brain’s biases; How to solve problems by cutting down, rather than adding up; Mark Zuckerberg on WhatsApp

February 15, 2021: How Clubhouse keeps users engaged; Ray Dalio on Bitcoin; What kind of a human are you?

January 6, 2021: The coming consolidation in retail; How to conduct better meetings; Tea art of remembering

December 9, 2020: A slice of history; Building new businesses in the new scheme of things; Learnings from 2020; Who wants a vaccine?