Mearl Colaco

Open the newspaper these days….more than news content or must I say, content that educates the readers about the current business scenario, the political system, or about what’s happening in the entertainment industry…..you’ll find huge brightly colored advertisements occupying prime space in the newspapers. And these advertisements do not only talk about brands or products, but they talk about discounts and sale, to lure readers to jump off their couch and head straight towards the stores offering those whopping discounts. These adverts do look good and truly enticing and kind of makes one go wow. I must admit…..it makes me go wow too!! Name the big brands and all of them are offering discounts, some spinning off a flat 50% discount and there are those smart big-wigs who say they are offering a discount of upto 50%....only to rush there and realize that the real good stuff only comes at a discount of 5-10% on an eye-popping mark-up price. Marketers’ truly think we are a whole lot of ...

Look at this picture right here….doesn’t it say it all? Yes indeed!! My caption to this picture would be: “A woman taking centre stage, while corporate honchos keenly and attentively listen to her.” Perhaps, my caption would look different, if this was something that occurred like almost everyday in the business world….Sad but true, it isn’t this way always. I picked-up the newspaper this Sunday morning, to hit upon an article on the front page, carrying details of US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s visit to Mumbai. Before actually getting into reading those details, the picture which supported the article was quite impressive and was the first thing that caught my attention. Woman on Top Let me clear the air first, I am no Feminist and not a member of any Mahila Sangh (a group which fights for the right of women), but yes I believe, that women can reach for the stars, if the corporate world gives the talented “her” to lead from the front. Its not that there are no women in I...

I t all happened that very busy Monday morning, when one of my friends called to tell me that registrations to the Mumbai Marathon 2010 had began. That was it!! I left everything and visited the site to do an online registration, since I didn’t want to miss the marathon, like I did in Jan 2009 – a late-latif, like always. Group registrations A group of maybe three of my friends had already registered and then it was my turn. Bingo!! I successfully registered to the Dream run, a 6kms sprint, and was like on top of the world at that instant. Simultaneously, I was thinking, it would indeed be a good opportunity to use the Mumbai Marathon 2010 as a corporate branding event. This was like trailing in my mind and then….it was a spin-off! I shot an email to the top management, and not surprised at all, the deal was passed by them. Though, I was stressing upon us participating in the “Corporate Challenge” – an event where a corporate support a cause and then contribute towards the cause throu...

I know you must be thinking that here is another business guru, come to give us her gyan fundas. Let me clear the air first, I am a real idiot when it comes to business communication…infact communication of any form is not my cup of tea. Wow…It actually feels nice to let out this truth through this blog….you see I cannot admit this when I appear for an interview ;-) Through this article of mine, I am basically trying to impress upon the fact of some people who go down to any extent to achieve their goal- may it be giving up a bad habit of smoking or to attaining a size zero figure or maybe to simply become the richest person on this planet and own all the luxuries that life can offer. It is good indeed to be ambitious in life and go that extra mile to achieve what you have set for yourself and make it a winnable one. But its worthy if the ambition is positive…..a dream which is good for you and the society that surrounds you. Running behind your objective through bootlicking, corrup...

Beginning Q4 2008 the global economy went into a recession and certain markets awfully collapsed with no signs of warning. Fortune 500 companies closed down in a blink and the whole world got sucked in the infectious global meltdown phenomenon. The question is how do we tackle this downturn and move ahead in the way business and markets use to operate prior to the slump. If only we could do business with another planet, things would have been better. Sad but true….we do not have that option open to us yet. Identified ways for tackling recession If you have a marquee product to sell, the prospective customers do not have the money to buy your product. Unemployment is increasing globally. Demand is shrinking. Consumers are postponing purchase of luxury goods until market recovery. Violence, hatred, inter-continental grudge is mounting. People waiting for a career-boost in terms of position and salary are left lurching in the dark. Cost cutting is given the top most priority in the cor...