Random thoughts - Deux

And so, I start the second volume of random thoughts while my boss screeches his displeasure about my generally plummeting levels of efficacy.

Thought #2 : I'm a Brand and so's my brother.

We're also probably very succesful as brands. Allow me to explain :

Brand : An emoticon of collective responses from each and every responsive stakeholder : positive & negative gathered over a period of time through an unbiased medium / platform.

More the positive responses, larger is the Equity. Brand Equity is what Coke and Pepsi are spending amounts close to the GDP of some smaller nations for. Think about it : what sells is not flavoured, carbonated cola water; what sells is "Coke" - the second-most used word in the world after "Taxi". That's what's equity. And it can transform flavoured water into a century-and-a-half old icon.

Let's analyse the above definition in parts and put them into perspective :

(i) An emoticon of collective responses :

My mother loves me and so does my brother. The rest of the world collectively tends more toward a general disliking even though there are mixed emotions from outlying individuals eg : My father's indifferent, my girlfriend is selectively / occasionally tolerant of my myriad mood facets. All these opinions bordering more toward the dark makes me slightly dark, which was the purpose of things to begin with. Repel till you find a match. Only then does the world matter.
Therefore, I am reflective of people's opinions, whether true or false.
So's my brother : He's fat and ugly, but, a likable abomination.

(ii) From each and every responsive stakeholder :

Everyone who meets my brother or me is sure to formulate an opinion. Thankfuly, one can safely assume that we don't fall into the category of "also ran". I am quite sure that I can elicit a repsonse from even the most non-responsive of people simply because I am either repulsive or even worse, "nice". The same goes for my brother. Bengalis outside of their place of domicile are usually regarded thus, but, there's not a soul who can maintain that we're not worth a mention. 'Responsive' excludes half-witted North-Indians, whose principal expressions cover a wide range annotations of the word "yaar". They aren't meant to be counted, just used as alter-ego when the party gets boring.

(iii) An unbiased medium / platform :

This is most important. This is what truly helps build the brand because it's a manifestation of the singular most important virtue - Integrity.
We don't solicit an opinion. People usually offer them or simply lambast us in closed circles. But, never do we ask them to opinionate. Neither my brother nor I.
The secret lies in the inherent ability of bengalees to draw the ire of most North Indian communities and a lot praise from loving and proud bengalee family members / neighbours and local para dwellers when they sail the far seas in search of fortunes and find them.

My brother and I are Brands and very effective ones at that. We're as vanilla as cola, yet as saleable as DeusenBerg. We're as ordinary as a non-descript steel tristar, yet as effective as four-letter Bengalee surname.

Point is : Most of us are Brands, but, we refuse to garner the equity we so easily enjoy........I'll see you on the Dark side of the Moon. But, its up to you to make the cut.