No idea……….Get idea

I fear to answer “No idea” on even simple queries these days. Thanks to the “No Idea…..Get Idea” campaign launched by Idea Cellular in India. Although the campaign was launched in the month of November promoting Mobile Number Portability(MNP) to all the 791 million telecom subscribers in India, it has successfully helped the company gain more than 150,000 customers over a period of time, second only to Vodafone which has led in MNP conversions.

The funnier side of the campaign has been the magical words “No Idea…..Get Idea” making an entry into our lives everywhere, among friends, colleagues, and every acquaintance we are aware about. Every query raised has to be answered carefully these days for the fear that the opposite party would answer “Get idea”. The other day, one of my clients jokingly said “Get idea” to a query we had no answer. Situations could sometimes be gleeful but other times quiet embarrassing too. Bosses in office have a new word added to their dictionary. In cinema theatre, the actor says “No Idea” and someone from the crowd pops out “Get idea”. The word has become so rife that one is forced not to contemplate any answer which we start with “No idea”. I try and frame new sentences in order to avoid such situations of listening “Get idea”.

The campaign too has equally done well for Idea Cellular and successfully increased its subscriber base in addition to the brand recall created among the millions in India. “Connecting with users” is the magic which has helped companies transform their bottom lines and I feel Idea Cellular has connected well this time. Although the company has a small subscriber base across India compared to the top players but it has strengthened its position in certain pockets in India. A jingle which not only connects with everyone’s life but also pushes our brain cells to re-collect the advertisement has proved to be a success.  I am not Idea Cellular subscriber but the campaign has entered into my life with the jingles as mentioned above and I am quiet sure it has put some impact in everyone’s life.

Everyday I see one or the other person going repetitive on this campaign among their friends. Although it may seem annoying but the fever still keeps growing and the campaign proves its success. I would term this a good work as an effective advertisement always connects with our lives and this one surely does.

Do let me know your “No idea…….Get idea” experiences.

Cheers

New Year Resolutions

New Year is a time to celebrate, and get involved in big plans for the year. Most of us start big with our self-made values and lose our way towards middle of the year and again resolve to make changes in our plans. This cycle goes on unabated in our lives all throughout each year. Every New Year welcomes with it a few resolutions that each of us takes to get a little more determined towards our goals. Although the importance of these resolutions have been effective in many of our lives but still a few of us fail to achieve our resolutions towards the mid or end of the year. The variety in resolutions that we take ranges from our personal choices and priorities that affects our lives each day.

This year I decided not to take any resolution and let things fall in place as the priority arises, but at the same time assign importance to certain areas of improvement. I thought to pick up top 5 resolutions of the year that can be of help to anyone and help them relate it with their lives.

Quit Smoking- I am a non-smoker, but I find this to be on top priority of every smoker around me. Numerous resolutions to quit smoking go haywire every year, but still a large number of people are able to sustain with their resolution all throughout the year. The increase in number of smokers every year especially in developing economies makes this to be on top priority for people. As per the statistics published by World Bank, there are 1.1 billion smokers in the world, and the number is expected to increase to 1.25 billion till 2025. I believe the figures itself should prompt smokers to make this on top of their lists.

Yoga and Fitness programs- This has been one of the most sought after resolution these days with lots of people resorting to various forms of exercise to reduce their weight. In the year 2010, I started taking power-yoga classes and this has helped me immensely to shed off extra fat, I believe people can definitely give it a try to reduce their weight. As per WHO statistics, there are more than 40 million children who are obese and 80% of these are from developing economies of the world. Going by the serious numbers, this definitely can be on resolution priority list of anybody.

Reading & writing- For bloggers like me, the resolution definitely is a priority but is often marred by various other factors and engagements that crop up in our day-to-day life. There are people around the world who blog or write books driven by their New Year resolutions, it is just upon us on how we manage time and the priority we assign to our resolution.

New Lessons- Well, learning anything new has always been on priority for all of us, whether it is any new language, dance, obtaining a degree, painting, swimming, art etc. The list can definitely be very long, with no end to the amount of knowledge available in the world.

Managing expenses- Expense management is always on the top priority for every one of us on day-to-day basis. The art of managing expenses lies in how meticulously we manage our wasteful or not so important expenditures. With the world economy being hit by recession, managing expense is one of the important resolutions in our lives. Although the art of saving is seen more in the developing economies than the developed ones, managing expenses have always been part of everyone’s life lately.

I believe there can be many more resolutions that can be added to this list depending on personal preferences, the only resolution that we need to take is to stick to our New Year resolutions for 365 days firmly.

The inexhaustible vessel – Akshaya Patra

“Food for thought” is the dictum and to feed the future of India, one needs food more than mere thoughts. The effort to make things happen for under privileged children in India has been the goal of vibrant cause called Akshaya Patra. In Sanskrit, dating back to Mahabharata period, “Akshaya Patra” signifies a vessel which doesn’t exhaust, or provide abundance to everyone.  Indeed the same is being replicated by this NGO which at present feeds more than 1.2 million children in and around Silicon city of India.

The mission says “to reach 5 million children by 2020”. I say let’s try together and help reduce it by at least 5 years. Let the noble cause grow each day and India prospers through its children. Indeed, a very noble cause supported by Akshaya Patra to feed the future of India. The noble cause makes it possible by “Unlimited Food for Education”.

Needless to say, the number of under privilege children in India, numbers can be easily obtained from internet. What is required is a benevolent support to the cause, I just felt the best by offering my help, Are you still waiting??

To donate online, please click on this link