I was browsing through Parachute's latest products at a local store and saw their focus on creams and gels. In one way that seems to be a direct association with youth which made me happy, since it directly connects with the web and the whole 2.0 phenomenon of teenage chatter online. But what also came across was the perception that the "Parachute" brand has with it's customers. Though a clear category leader in hair oil, I wasn't sure if the urban kid wanted to be associated with a brand that stands for an age old staple, especially for the women folk in their house. I guess the Hair Gel market has increasingly tried to outreach to an audience averse of using oil and was wondering whether a new/independent brand identity would have worked better.

The most interesting development in the media world over the past month or so hasn't been Rupert Murdoch's foray into 24/7 business news programming. And it certainly hasn't been NBC Universal's $925 million deal for Oxygen Media. Instead, it's the sea change in corporate strategy going on at Discovery Communications, better known as the operator of cable channels such as Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. In August, Discovery acquired the popular site TreeHugger.com for $10 million. On Monday, the company snatched up HowStuffWorks.com for $250 million. Together, the two sites will become the focal point for the company's revamped Internet strategy. (In fact, Ad Age has referred to the bigger and better Discovery Communications as "DiscoveryPedia.)

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Chinese Lucky Charm ... spotted this at the coast of Mumbai, India. It inclines towards treasures, luck and pots of Gold :)

my space launched in India with lots of pomp! the country is dominated by Orkut and then Facebook ...how much space there is in the market is yet to be explored!

Interesting tool to figure social influence on the web!

consumer generated T shirt designs :) make yours!

Expedia has entered India with no Air bookings ..quite interesting ..seems the indian market is too clutered for another one!

bored of Facebook??

Coca Cola does this worlwide sharing its marketing stories..

Frito Lay India is blogging! Not many companies have taken these initiatives in their respective market ... Frito Lay is pepsi's snack food division ... snack food? Internet? blog? do these sound misfits :)

Baker and Green on Social Media in Businessweek..

Just came across this technorati survey that says Japanese (37%) is the most popular blogging language followed by English(33%), Chinese(8%), Italian(3%) and Farsi(1%) ... How interesting .. we some time make too much of English :)...

The Waterstones book store at the London School Of Economics!

Some brands create conversations in the real space - that's Apple for you.

This is their flagship store at Regent Street, London that allows folks to touch, feel and share stories ..