About the Author - Anand Bhaskar Halve has over 25 years of experience in advertising and is a founder member of chlorophyll brand and communications consultancy, Mumbai. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), he also conducts advertising workshops there, and has been a visiting faculty a the Mudra Institute of Commnciations, Ahmedabad (MICA).

About the Book

With more than 50 million mobile phones beeping around the country, mushrooming brands at the supermarkets, and sprawling shopping malls all over, the challenge clearly for advertisers is to create powerful advertising that helps brands stand out in the crowd.

The book is step-by-step guide to producing a sound foundation for advertising : one that will serve as the springboard to inspire powerful creative expressions. Rich in cases from the living Indian context, Planning for Power advertising offers an understanding of how strategic advertising is created. It takes the reader through cases and analyses of what worked or did not work in the marketplace.

Anand Halve involves the reader throughout in exercises with Action Points at the end of most chapters - an approach that brings alive the concepts within, and helps readers discover the theory in practice.

Participatory and pragmatic in its approach, the key issues discussed are competition and the changing nature of the markets. Understanding differentiator and motivators - discovering what changes the consumer's mind. How to look, bend positioning and identify what can make your brand unique.

With a robust advertising brief, for students of advertising and marketing, planning for power advertising is a stimulation exercise from which they will learn how to apply the principles that will help them in their future careers.

Redefining Indian advertising by curing its colonial hangover and reaching out to the 1 billion strong Indian masses, by speaking to them in their own language. Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and National creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, talks to Nidhi Jain about the changing environment of work for leaders.

Lesson you have learnt so far...

Lessons that are more applicable and not lessons that were discovered afresh.
These lessons come from my sporting days, which got reconfirmed in my business days. I used to play cricket. Unlike cricket over here, we are only one member of the team and that included the captain also. The role of the captain is to get the best out of the team at one level and at the other level to perform well enough to justify your place in the team. Otherwise, no one will remain captain anymore.

So, in any organization where many people work, what is important is to work well yourself as well as get good results from others. So this is one lesson that got reconfirmed from my cricket days.

In a cricket team we have nothing to manufacture and in industry we only have people around with talent. So our job is to encourage these people and make them perform at the highest level. There are ups and down but we have to keep them motivated.

How do you pacify madness around you...

If madness had a method then it will not be mad anymore. Then we would know what to do tomorrow and would get the same results. The idea is not to kill anything just because we are the head. We have to encourage new thing without sacrificing discipline, of course. We very well know when it is out of context but that does not mean it cannot sell. In advertising, good ideas sell and we have to make others understand this.

People who have influenced you so far...

Many different kinds of people and not necessarily from advertising. I am very much influenced by Vivian Richards. He changed the rules of batting by playing different shots in different ways and challenged everybody. Similarly I cannot lead a stereotypical life. Experiment with new things and follow the one that suits me.

I also got influenced by my mother who did not believe that lack of formal education was a deterrent to her being knowledgeable. So she acquired a lot by reading books.

I also got influenced by my late cook who challenged every theory of cooking. Arun Lal, who is a commentator now, has also influenced me a lot because he is not at all scared of speaking his mind, no matter what. There is no one single person who influenced me in total. I have been influenced by life. There is a certain trait in every human which needs to be respected.

What according to you are changing rules of work...

Rules are challenged when they become monotonous. Self proven rules don't work everytime. So the idea is to question and challenge and adapt to something else. Have an open mind and be willing to accept everything. The older days had an assembly line in advertising where the client used to brief up everything to the client server and then client server used to brief up everything to the creative guy and vice versa but now we all work together and things have changed, so one should not follow just what is written in books. Rather, they should apply new ideas to the same thing.

How do you ensure that your team delivers...

There is nothing to ensure. They are all good people. We hired them because they are good and can perform. I have never been under pressure thinking whether they will do well or not. I am myself not sure whether each time I touch anything will come out well since I am not superhuman and neither are they. As long as we win more number of times, we are a good team. We are commercial artists and cannot be self indulgent about in it. I make them understand to respect others and have respect for themselves too.

Fun part of your business....

Fun part is meeting different people. I meet so many of them. Some seem bizarre at times and a few interesting. A lot of excitement of our business is that we are addressing 50 different problems so there is no monotony. Taking quick decisions and watching quick results is the fun here. Unlike in movies, in our case I come to know what I did in 20 days. Maybe I am impatient but that is what I like.

Piyush Pandey's leadership mantra - "A leader should never state that he is a leader. Others should know that you are a leader."

When it comes to discussing leisure time activities, there are many things that head honcho Amar Deb is into - be it books, meditation or writing but it's his weekend travelling which keeps him on an even keel. During the course of the conversation, I find out that Deb is a real cool `travelling man'. And travelling for him is not about taking off to some exotic foreign locations and checking into a luxurious suite; but it's about braving torrential rains, driving down to some dense forests and camping in his tent.

So, it seems like travel is real hard work for Deb. He says, "My real adrenalin chaser is to explore wild places, camp out at some unknown virgin beaches or explore the rugged Sahayadri terrain in Maharashtra. I've been doing this for years now. At least once a month, I along with my wife Nita and five year old son take off on a ultimate dream drive in search of some unknown location."

So, what are the dream destinations for this seasoned traveller? There are places that Deb rattles off as he relives the experience, "My wanderlust has taken me across the state of Maharashtra. I can still vividly remember our trip to Khadavli which is about 14 kms off the Nasik highway when I could show my son millions of stars while sleeping under the open sky. "

He goes on, "another place is Ambivali, a deserted place with thick dense and thick forest mangoes. Then, there are some nameless destinations which we discover along the way. It's like if we decide to go to Matheran then we don't camp at proper Matheran but we trail off to a place like say Jumapatti."

I see a dreamer in Deb as listening to him also reminds me of the much forgotten word - serendipity - the faculty of making unexpected and happy discoveries accidentally which many of us have probably left behind us in the hubbub of daily life. As I am transformed to the sylvan serenity of the countryside, Deb adds, "it's a beautiful feeling to meet simple and beautiful people, to have a cup of tea from a roadside dhaba and drink water from the fresh water streams."

My Childhood experience
I ask him about his growing years and it looks like the travel bug is really in the
Deb genes. Recalling his childhood experience, he says, "My father was in the Navy where life was pretty regimented. So, to break the monotony, he would often drive down to discover waterfalls, hills and camp sites.
In fact, as a five year old I remember touring the whole of South along with my parents and of course my pets - a dog and a cat. We drove around in a car and camped ourselves at various destinations from Kerala to Kanyakumari. But, those days it was less polluted and crowded, and everything was very clean and beautiful."

But can't things get a bit out of hand with this rather risky penchant for travel? There are memories and incidents that Deb still carries with him. "Yes, sometimes it can be, but somehow overall there has never been a major problem."

He continues, "As a child, I remember being caught up in a major religious riot when we were travelling down South. Then, I remember seeing a python and a leopard right in my tent. At Jumapatti, we were woken up by villagers to caution us about a lion in the vicinity. Once, I was with some friends of mine and since I had forgotten to build the trench around my tent there was more than six inches of water and our sleeping bags were almost submerged. Now since I travel with my family, I am obviously a bit more careful."

Maharashtrians' are a beautiful people
Though born and brought up in Bangalore, Deb has adapted to Maharashtra and its culture like a fish to water. "I love the state and the people. Maharashtrians are beautiful and vivacious people. One is treated like a guest wherever one goes. And for those wanting to explore the state, no matter what kind of holiday you are looking for, you will find it here. Whether it's peaceful self-exile in the awe-inspiring mountains, quiet worship at shrines, or revelation in cave architecture, art and culture or challenging treks or abundant wildlife thrills."

Deb's such a nature lover that he's even reluctant to reveal deserted beaches and places which he has discovered along the way. He tells me what normally happens is that once these places get written about they start developing as tourist destinations and the within no time people start buying property at such places. "I always feel people should learn to enjoy nature without possessing it."

I ask him how this sort of adds on to his life. He says, "The combination of a fantastic car drive and a great outdoors gives me a sense of grounding literally. And it's definitely a break from our hectic schedules.
" I typically wake up in a tent somewhere in the middle of a mountain and think of a wild idea and then come to office and ask my gang to work on it." Aha?..

What is this Ego and why is there so much of it everywhere?' is what Get the Ego Advantage examines?

Our ego is like an invisible but tangible bubble which we project around ourselves, based on our own impression of our abilities and worth. This book shows how our abilities and sense of worth combine in the ego to determine our actions and interactions.

Suffering toxic emotions while nursing ego-wounds, reacting, and regretting can all be prevented. Get the Ego Advantage! Outlines a simple approach that can easily be applied to real-life situations to help us understand the puzzling reactions we come across in other people. It also explores ego clashes in professional life, ways to balance individual and team identity, leadership, and issues such as rigid attitudes, prejudice, and alienation. The author provides illuminating insights into complex concepts like self-esteem, true love, parental love, arrogance, and narcissism.

With Abu, an original cartoon character, to guide through the book, it will be an entertaining as well as useful read for both the general and the professional reader.

 Description:

Anjana Sen, an Emotional Intelligence (EI) consultant and a medical physician who has authored this extremely interesting book, helps us to understand our reactions and feelings in the constant interplay of ego in our personal and  professional lives. She has likened the ego to a suit, which each personality wears much like a skin and describes the  ego as an invisible but very tangible bubble, which we project around ourselves like a hologram based upon our own impression of our abilities and worth.

 The author also provides insights into the convoluted concepts of:

 - Self esteem;

 - True love and parental love

 - Arrogance;

 - Happiness has now become a thing constructed. It is no longer intrinsic.

 "Self-esteem is not everything, but without it there is nothing." That is the essence of this short 14-chapter book, replete with illustrations by the author.

People in positions of power and responsibility particularly need to hone their EI skills. Says Sen: "As you go higher in the ladder, you need emotional competencies much more than technical competencies. Society is equipping people to get jobs; we are not equipping them to keep jobs."

Science of it

"Ego is wrongly interpreted as arrogance. Instead, Ego is inside us. When we bring it to consciousness, it is self esteem."

Even though it is based on science, Emotional Quotient (EQ) itself cannot be measured, though there are many instruments to measure it.

By Nidhi Jain

Brandon de Souza, managing director, Tiger Sports Marketing, is one of the most recognized figures on the Indian golf scene. In his 32-year association with golf, he has viewed the game from every possible angle. He tells Nidhi Jain about his taste in books.

Who introduced you to reading?
Runs in the family - mom, dad and two elder sisters being voracious readers. Before retiring to bed a few pages from a book was the order of the day so from Noddy & Big Ears, Famous Five, Billy Bunter etc., all became a habit.

Kind of book collection you have
Limited now to ones I have particularly enjoyed and still find practical in my day to day life. Mark McCormack's 'What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School, What they still don't teach you at Harvard Business School'. Jack Welch's 'Straight from the Gut', Shiv Khera's 'Winners Don't Do Different Things, They Do Them differently'.

Taste in books
Easy to read from Sheldon to Ludlum.

What do you think of self help books?
Do not subscribe to them.

Money and time spent on books
Limited as my friends' circle ensure we share all books worth a read.

Your reading pace
Really quick, mostly at airports waiting for planes.

Your first book
Noddy.

Browsing and e-reading
Often.

Currently you are reading
Freakonomics - Steven D. Levitt.

Books that do not hold you
Science fiction.

Subhajyoti Ray, president of the Internet and Mobile Association of India, has already penned two books and is getting ready for a third. And no, it's not the virtual world that his pen traverses but the historical one. 'Historian Subho' takes Nidhi Jain on a journey back through time.

What made you write this book?
My first book was Transformation of Bengal Frontier. Spanning a period between 1750 and 1940, this book analysis the socioeconomic changes brought about by colonial rule in a frontier area of Bengal, Jalpaiguri.

It started as a chore as it was my PhD topic and the project grew on me and I became so fond of it that at the end of the day I thought I had written a second PhD. I didn't want it to confine it to a library shelf as a PhD thesis. I went out of my way to get it published. When one is working on a PhD it's like a baby and the final delivery is when the book comes out.
 

The second book was more interesting, it was co-authored with Sharmila, my colleague at CII, and is called India Building Partnership for CII. The institution was founded in 1985.

Book and Character
I am a historian, interested more in things of the past than present. I wanted to write a corporate history with a different feel of the process and perspective at CII.

Crux of the book
First, it questions certain beliefs, prejudices regarding the agrarian labour industry in the country. It looks at the national movement, management control of labour, agrarian relations.

What's next on your agenda?
Translating a book, an autobiography by a Bengali author. It's a fascinating account of 50-60 years of his life. How he left his home in Uttar Pradesh, lived in Calcutta, then Mumbai, before the First World War. It will give you more insights into Mumbai than many other books written on the city.