50 TODAY I LEARNED7 THINGsSUCCESSFULPEOPLE NEVER DO MAhATMA GANDHI - Don’t hold grudges “An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” People with high emotional intelligence focus on solutions and they rarely hold a grudge. They understand prolong negative emotions creates stress that hinders performance.HENRY FORD - Never Give Up AKIO MORITA - Perfection not PriorityHenry Ford paid heavily to the success he had achieved. The entire Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka developed a rice cooker aftermotor industry had lost faith in Henry Ford, but he was not deterred. world war II. The cooker was awful but it either burned rice orHe found another investor to start the Ford Motor Company, and undercooked it. This didn’t dissuade them from their dream ofthe rest is history. selling household products. After several other false starts, they began selling portable transistor radios.| DECEMBER 2014
TODAY I LEARNED 51OPRAH WINFREY - Never Surround with BILL GATES - YES Don’t Come EasilyNegative People Often you have to rely on intuition. Successful people don’tSurround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher. beat around the bush. They are typically direct to say ‘no’Negative people fails to focus on solutions and complains all the to a new commitment to honour existing commitments.time. They are Toxic. Think of it this way: If a person were smoking,would you sit there inhaling the second-hand smoke? You’ddistance yourself, and you should do the same with complainers.”Richard Branson - Past is History Winston Churchill - Never HAD Golden SpoonRichard Branson undoubtedly a successful entrepreneur withventures including Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Music and Virgin Active. The twice elected Prime Minster of the United KingdomHowever, when he was 16 he dropped out of school to start a wasn’t always as well regarded as he is today. Churchillstudent magazine that didn't do as well as he hoped. He then set struggled in school and failed the sixth grade. The Nobelup a mail-order record business which did so well that he opened prize winner faced many years of political failures, as hehis own record shop called Virgin. Along the way to success came was defeated in every election for public office until he finallymany other failed ventures including Virgin Cola, Virgin Vodka, became the Prime Minister at the ripe old age of 62.Virgin Clothes, Virgin Vie, Virgin cards, etc as he learns from pastand keep moving forward. DECEMBER 2014 |
52 TRADEMARKSUsingtToraBdoeomstarYkosurCompetitive EdgeTrademarks indicate the source of a product or service The manufacturer or service provider needs to select a to a customer. That, in a nutshell, is the primary trademark for his product or service that, ideally, should be function of a trademark. In today’s business world, distinctive, easy to recall by customers, easy to pronouncetrademarks have come to play a very important role. Think and should not be descriptive of the product or service toabout it – how is a manufacturer of products to attract the which the trademark is associated. In practice, manufacturersattention of a customer whose attention is clamoured for and service providers tend to choose trademarks that areby hundreds of similar products that he faces every day? If, descriptive, for instance, Orenjus for orange juice, Yummyfor example, you manufacture a special formulation of body Chicken Rice for a chicken rice shop, Spring Water forlotion or shampoo, what makes the customers choose your mineral water, and so on. This tendency is completelyproduct over the dozens of brands of lotions and shampoos understandable as the manufacturer or service provideron the supermarket shelves? Is it the price, the packaging, prefers to have customers know what their product or servicethe quality of the product, or some other factor? No doubt is about.all of these factors play a role in the selection process butthe brand (trademark) plays a vital role, arguably the mostsignificant one.| DECEMBER 2014
TRADEMARKS 53Unfortunately, although such descriptive marks assist the chips are packaged. It pays to have professionally designedmanufacturer or service provider on the marketing front, packaging. Furthermore, if the packaging is original, it wouldsuch marks are difficult to register and other traders (i.e., enjoy copyright protection as well. As to what is copyright,competitors) are likely to use similar marks to refer to their how SMEs use copyright in their businesses and what canbusiness, thus diverting your customers to their business. be protected under copyright law, we will visit that in another article.A mark should preferably be invented – a word that does notexist in the dictionary. Take for instance, the mark ESSO® for Note:petroleum, SONY® for cameras and KODAK® for imaging The trademarks inand photography supplies. These marks are meaningless this article belongmarks, coined by the manufacturers of the products. The to their respectivepublic would not have known what ESSO®, SONY® and owners. KASSKODAK® products were in the beginning when the products does not claimwere first launched. In such cases, the manufacturer can any proprietaryadopt a tagline to describe the products. For example, the right whatsoever;mark ESSO® is accompanied by the tagline “Put a tiger in they are usedyour tank”. The tagline immediately informs the public that solely forthe product the mark ESSO® applies to is petrol. Such educationalinvented words are easy to register as a trademark, reduces purposes.the cost of registration and makes it easier for you to takeaction against anyone who adopts your trademark for his/her P. Kandiah is the Founder and Directorproducts or services. Using invented words together with a of KASS International, an establishedtagline is a good approach to “educate” your customers on intellectual property firm with offices inwhat products or services the trademark refers to. Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Mr. Kandiah has vast experience inTrademarks are not only used on manufactured goods but obtaining patents, trademarks andalso on natural products such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, industrial design rights on a globalmeat and such. Malaysians are familiar with branded oranges, scale, and also specializes in identifyingapples and grapes, but are they familiar with branded local patentable inventions, designing aroundfruits? Are any of the Malaysian tropical fruits trademarked? patented technology, and advising onCan you recall any brand? Is there a known Malaysian brand the commercialization of IP Rights,for rambutans, durians or mangosteens? A clever farmer franchising and licensing strategies. Foror farmer’s organisation would do well to trademark their more information,products. This enables customers to ask for a particularbrand of fruits, just like asking for SUNKIST® oranges or visit www.kass.com.my orWASHINGTON® apples. Established trademarks assurethe customer of consistency in the quality of the product drop an to [email protected] repeat purchases at different times and at differentoutlets. This is why established trademarks are referred toas “trustmarks” as it has garnered the trust of customers.But to maintain the trust, the manufacturer has to ensurethat the quality of the product is maintained at all times sothat a customer comes to accept or trust the branded goodsthrough repeated purchase of the product.For a customer to feel proud of the product he is purchasing,the product must be attractively and distinctively packed. It isadvisable to engage professional design consultants to assistwith the design of the packaging and label put on the product orthe container in which the product is contained. Just comparehow potato chips are packaged and how homemade tapioca DECEMBER 2014 |
54 EVENT COVERAGEAGENDA SURIACOMMUNICATION EARNSTWO MAJOR RECOGNITIONWell known event organizer, Agenda Suria Communication Sdn Bhd earns two major recognitions within a month. The organizer ofthe Global Indian Festival, Deepavali Carnival and manyother shopping festivals successfully gained entry into theMalaysia Book of Records in two categories:1. Longest Running Outdoor Festive Carnival2. Largest Outdoor Festive CarnivalJunior Chamber International (JCI) Malaysian in supportof The United Nation (UN) Global Compact presentedSocially Responsible Company Awards 2014 to AgendaSuria Communication Sdn Bhd. The award Industry ClassSector in Event Management was to recognize and honourcorporations that have executed highly successful andimpactful Corporate Social Responsibility activities within oroutside their boundaries.The Management of Malaysian Indian Business Magazine onbehalf of its readers extend our Congratulations to The Boardof Directors, Managament, Staffs and all those who workedtirelessly earning this success. | DECEMBER 2014
56 INDIA BUSINESS NEWSSBI'S BHATTACHARYA MOST POWERFUL INDIAN TOSHIBA TO INVEST $ 30 BILLION TO EXPANDWOMAN IN BUSINESS: FORTUNE POWER BUSINESS IN INDIAArundhati Bhattacharya, the chairperson of State Bank Japanese firm Toshiba Corporation will invest about $ of India (SBI), has been named as the most powerful 30 million for expanding its production capacity in the woman in business in India by Fortune magazine. ICICI power transmission and distribution business in India.Bank's Chanda Kochhar and Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank The investment is part of the company's plan to investfollow Ms Bhattacharya at the second and the third places,respectively. In the Fortune India list of 50 most powerful $ 100 million in Indian power sector by 2016. \"Toshibabusinesswomen, there are as many as eight new entrants.Two first timers - Ms Bhattacharya and Nishi Vasudeva, the Corporation will reinforce its transmission and distributionchairperson and managing director of HPCL (4th) - havemade a cut into the top 10. Ms Bhattacharya, chairperson (T&D) business in India with a 3 billion yen (approximately $of India's largest lender, made to number one spot \"due toher relentless fight against bad loans\", Fortune India 30 million) investment in new production capacity at Toshibasaid. \"Since she took overa year or so ago, she Transmission & Distribution Systems India Private Ltdhas improved assetsquality, cut costs and (TTDI) in Hyderabad,\" the companyrecapitalised SBI(State Bank of said in a statement. \"IndiaIndia).\" \"That's nomean feat when is a high-growthyou considerthat SBI has 190 market thatforeign offices, amarket cap of Rs. Toshiba1.9 lakh crore and222,033 employees,\" hasthe magazine noted.Other new entrants includeShahnaz Husain, founder ofShahnaz Group of Companies, ZarinDaruwala, president-wholesale bankingat ICICI Bank, Archana Hingorani, CEOand executive director at IL&FS InvestmentManagers, Vani Kola, managing directorat Kalaari Capital, and Valerie Wagoner,managing director at Zipdial. The otherwomen who figure in the top 10 include ZiaMody, co-founder of AZB Partners, MallikaSrinivasan, CEO of TAFE, Aruna Jayanthi,CEO of Capgemini India, Preetha Reddy,managing director at Apollo HospitalEnterprise, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw,chairperson and managing director atBiocon.| DECEMBER 2014
57INDIA BUSINESS NEWSpositioned as a strategic base for its power-related focus on 'lateral hires' of professionals with domain-specificbusinesses. \"In the period to FY16, Toshiba plans to invest skill sets and expertise, it said. Crisil said the IT sector, witha cumulative 10-billion yen (approximately $ 100 million) in revenues of $118 billion, currently employs 3.1 million peopleits in its T&D business there, including this current round of and accounted for a fourth of the total organised sectorinvestment,\" said Katsutoshi Toda, CMD, TTDI. \"Toshiba is employment generation in FY14.seeking to secure a 20 per cent share of the Indian marketby 2018, and also reinforce TTDI as a core T&D production INDIA'S TOP 30 ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE FIRMSbase for other major markets, including Europe, ASEAN, and WORTH US$6.2 BNAfrica,\" Toda said. A new facility for large power transformerswill come on line in 2015 at Hyderabad at the same time as India's top 30 business-to-business software productthe full scale launch of a new unit for switchgears. – The companies are now worth around $6.2 billion (aboutEconomic Times Rs 37,500 crore), employing nearly 18,000 people, according to a newly-launched half-yearly index trackingBAD NEWS FOR IT JOB SEEKERS these companies. iSpirt, the software product industry think tank has launched an index called \"iSPIxB2B\" for trackingRatings agency Crisil said the information technology the progress of these companies every six months. Some sector is likely to lose its position as a mass of the top metrics being tracked are valuation (post money), employment engine and new recruitments will nearly employees, funding and key target markets addressed. Forhalve over the next three years, even though companies will years, India's enterprise software product companies havecontinue to report good revenue growth. \"Despite healthy lived in the shadows of a much bigger software outsourcingrevenue growth of 13 per cent for IT services foreseen in the sector dominated by the likes of Tata Consultancy Services,medium-term, aided by recovery in discretionary spending InfosysBSE 0.04 % and Wipro. Now, a wave of e-commerceby clients, recruitments will shrink by around halve by fiscal companies raising billions of dollars in fresh funding and2018 (from the current levels) with vendors focusing on cost disrupting the domestic retail market has taken the centreoptimisation by maximising revenue-per-employee,\" the Crisil stage. But a new breed of software product companiesreport said. This will be bad news for technology graduates, including Zoho, In-Mobi, Freshdesk, Eka, Druva and IBSwho are getting hired in large numbers from their campuses Software are beginning to change that perception. Investorsduring the past few years, it said. \"Hiring and revenue growth backing these product start-ups point out how the Indian ITwill decouple as IT companies alter their business models... services industry has now built market capitalisation of overthe sector, which is a mass employment engine now, is $200 billion after nearly three decades. \"We are hopeful thisunlikely to remain so in future,\" Crisil said. The ongoing global will be as big as or bigger than services in value creation,\"weakness is forcing clients to trim their spends, which has in- said Shekhar Kirani of Accel Partners India. –The Economicturn forced IT companies to find ways to rationalise costs and Timesensure profitability. Software companies are implementing 55% FALL IN KASHMIR TOURISM BUSINESS:measures such as reducing bench strength, improving ASSOCHAMemployee utilisation rates and reducing other operationalcosts. \"Despite the predicted revenue growth, companies The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industrywill run very tight ships because of which incremental of India has said Kashmir's tourism industry which hasemployment will be curbed,\" it said. There will be a greater been badly hit by calamity has registered a steep fall of 55 per cent in business. The largest employment provider, tourism sector in Kashmir has been hit to the extent of 55 per cent in post-flood disaster, according to quick random survey undertaken by Assocham Social Development Foundation (ASDF) in the last two months, D S Rawat, secretary general of Assocham said while releasing the industry body's paper on Monday. Considered as a heaven for tourists, the state of J&K has suffered hugely due to devastating floods. DECEMBER 2014 |
58 BRAND CReATiVe H EADLINEBUILDING BRAND PRESENCETHROUGH HEADLINESWe conducted a small survey recently asking all update, every Tweet, every blog post, and even the titles the newspaper readers, regardless if it’s online or of your YouTube videos. These are all effective headlines, offline based. We wanted to understand the ‘pull summaries of information intended to capture people’sfactor’ that encourages them to read certain articles. Our attention and ultimately elicit a response.main reason was to conclude the percentages of readersreading ‘Creative Headline’ based articles and the readers Now, what are the things that we should know to make awho read all main paged news. good headline?Surprisingly, we noticed many ticked ‘Headlines’. 1) Convey The BenefitCopywriters, watch out! Almost 71% responses were moreinto the attractive headlines and of course, images play a vital You must understand that customers don’t buy features. Theyrole too. buy benefits. A benefit explains what the feature gives them, like “lasts longer, so it saves you money.” Benefits explainYes, ‘headlines’ is the topic this time! how the product or service improves the customer’s situation. It’s about them. Consumers only care about themselves.When people think of a headline, they commonly think Too many marketers dwell on features instead of benefits.of those big, bold blocks of copy that sit atop ads. But just A feature is a descriptive phrase about your product ofbecause you didn’t come up with the catchphrase for the service. The trouble is, sharing facts about measurements;last big ad campaign or the company slogan don’t mean colours, costs and capabilities usually do not sell a product.you aren’t writing headlines… every day, in every email, Features are the logical reasons people use to justify theirevery press release, every internal memo, every Facebook| DECEMBER 2014
BRAND 59emotional decision to purchase something. For example, If you try to write an ad that appeals to everyone, it will endFeature-focused headline: “Our loan reps have over 100 up appealing to no one. To capture people’s attention inyears combined experience.” And Benefit-focused headline: today’s marketing-saturated world, you’re going to have to“Eliminate stress with a ‘Worry Free’ home loan.” make some waves and rock the boat. In the good old days, direct marketers used to talk about a “2% response rate.” But2) Practice More & Keep it short practically, if you want to get noticed, you have to be edgy. That means you should shoot for a “2% offense rate,” whereBesides, eight out of 10 people will read headline copy, but your ad offends 2% of those who see it (presumably thoseonly two will read the rest. If you agree with this hallowed outside your target audience). If you get thousands of lettersadvertising maxim, it should be obvious why you need to protesting your ad campaign, you’ve probably pushed it toosweat your headlines. Write, and rewrite, then rewrite again. far. But if you get a couple complaints, don’t be afraid; itIf you’ve got four hours to write an ad, you should spend means your message is cutting through all the clutter.around three of them on the headline. 5) Getting Creative & Writing it in the End.Always simplify your offer or message. Edit it down to its bareessence. Delete any superfluous or redundant language. Be Often when people try to be creative, their creativity gets inruthless, and boil it down to its most basic form. If you write a the way of the message they want to communicate. In othergreat headline, you might not need any body copy. Don’t be words, creativity becomes the goal instead of communicating.afraid of one- and two-word sentences. Here’s a clue: If someone has to read the body copy to figure out what your ad is about, you may be pursuing “clever” versus3) Use Verbs more, not Adjectives. “clarity.” You’ll frequently see ads that require subheads to provide the context, payoff or offer. In many cases, theseAccording to the legendary advertising man, Leo Burnet, should have been used instead of the headline, which should“Dull and exaggerated ad copy is due to the excess use be tossed away entirely. So be honest with yourself whenof adjectives.” To prove it, he asked his staff to count the you review your marketing materials, and ask, “Would thisnumber of adjectives in 62 failed ads, then compare those to subhead make a more effective headline than the seeminglythe number of adjectives in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and more ‘creative’ headline above it?” Sometimes just deliveringother exemplary pieces of writing. your offer/message straight is the best approach.Every adjective you use is an unsubstantiated claim that Sometimes it helps to untag your thoughts by flushing allmight spark skepticism in your audience, especially if you the mandatory material on paper first. Write the body copystretch too far. Verbs, however, generally increase the pulling- , the offer, the call-to-action, the disclosure, is just written allpower and believability of ad copy. Two of the most famous that stuff down and whittle it to the fewest words possible.headlines in advertising total five words with no adjectives: Now step back and look for creative opportunities to provide“Got Milk?” and “Just Do It.” context with your headline. How can you creatively frame your message? This approach might feel a bit backwards,4) Go Beyond Rules. but once you’ve got the core built, you have the clarity of the message you need to concentrate on the headline.You have to come to a point that there are no rules. As amarketer, your job is all about communication. Whatever it A good headline should arouse curiosity, and encouragetakes to convey the message is fair game. Grammar? Puh- people to either read further or take action.lease… Correct spelling? Not required in advertising land —inventors of words like “lite” and “thru.” Foreign languages? Prasath KanagarasNo problemo, compadre. Proper sentence structure with a Brand Strategistnoun and verb? Bwaahahaha… If you apply AP Style rules Point Blank Mediaworksto your marketing communications simply because “that’swhat you’re supposed to do,” you’re limiting yourself and the [email protected] impact of your messages. DECEMBER 2014 |
60 ANCIENT MEDICINE • by P. AnnantharajanGOUTNO LONGERDISEASE OFKINGSGout a painful autoimmune, inflammatorycondition which affectsthe joints was firstidentified by the Egyptiansin 2640 BC. | DECEMBER 2014
ANCIENT MEDICINE 61It was later recognized by Hippocrates in the fifth century high levels of uric acid in the blood are necessary for the BC, who referred to it as ‘the unwalkable disease’. Some development of gout, although some other factors may be of Hippocrates’ remarkable in relation to gout are as true involved. This etiology points in the direction of the Ayurvedictoday as they were 2500 years ago. Hippocrates also noted etiology that indicates that blood is involved in this disease.the link between the disease and an intemperate lifestyle, If untreated, it can cause painful, destructive arthropathy andreferring to podagra(Gout) as an ‘arthritis of the rich’, as urolithiasis resulting in renal failure.opposed to rheumatism, an arthritis of the poor. As it wasassociated with a lifestyle of the affluent, gout has been WHAT CAUSES GOUT?referred to as the ‘disease of kings’. In some eras gout wasperceived as socially desirable because of its prevalence When the human body breaks down chemical known asamong the politically and socially powerful. In keeping with purines, it produces uric acid. Purines are found naturallythe spirit of development, gout is becoming less upper-class in our body as well as in food. Normally, uric acid dissolvesand is now open to all. Fast Facts1. About 90% of people with gout are men2. Generally occurs between 40 and 50 years of age3. Gout affects people from all walks of life.4. Gout is inherited5. Overweight person may suffer severely6. Not drinking enough fluids might aggravate gout.7. It is due to too much uric acid in the bodyAYURVEDIC VIEW and goes through the urine via the kidneys. But if the body is producing too much uric acid or if the body is not excretingIn Ayurveda, the origin of gout or VataRakta (Ayurvedic term enough uric acid, it starts accumulating in the body. Thisfor Gout) is believed to be in the blood. When functionally build up results in the formation of sharp, needle like crystals.impaired vata invades the blood and bone joints, it produces When they accumulate in the joints or surrounding tissues, itgout. It is characterized by acute excruciating pain (worse at causes pain, inflammation and swelling.night) and inflammation of the joints, which generally beginsfrom a toe or finger and then gradually spreads to the other High Uric Acid levels in blood or Hyperuricemia is the primejoints of the body. The affected joints are warmer than the factor that causes Gout. When high blood uric acid is presentbody, swollen, extremely tender with a burning sensation, without causing any symptoms, or simply called Silent.and have shiny overlying skin and dilated veins. The othersymptoms are excessive sweating, rigidity, numbness, and High Uric Acid levels in the blood may also cause differentdiscoloration of the skin on the affected joints. The joints types of problems such as:return to normal after a few days with desquamation of theoverlying skin. An acute attack may cause fever, anorexia,and general malaise. In conventional medicine, gout isknown as an inflammatory arthritis induced by the pathogenicdeposition of aggregated monosodium urate monohydratecrystals (tophi), which deposit in various tissues and joints.Urate crystals can also deposit in the kidneys. Chronic DECEMBER 2014 |
62 ANCIENT MEDICINE1. Kidney Stones after deposition of Urate crystals. It is Self Remedies often recurrent in nature. Avoid : high protein diet ,excessive salt, sour, pungent, fried2. Cause kidney failure as crystals block a number of foods, red meat, alcohol and tobacco, yogurt. tubules in the kidney Increase the use of garlic, ginger, cumin, fennel, coriander, cardamom and cinnamon.3. Arthritis when Urate crystals gets deposited in joints and Take light and easily digestible food like steamed or boiled surrounding tissues. vegetables or vegetable broth.Causes of Gout may include an impairment of digestion dueto intake of incompatible foods (particularly an excessiveintake of proteins), non-elimination of metabolic wastesfrom the body, hereditary factors, age and gender (rare infemales), and climate.TREATMENTThe treatment begins by altering dietary regimen. Lowoxalate and low-uric acid forming foods and a low meat dietis to be encouraged. High fiber, low protein foods should beemphasized, old rice (but not fresh rice), wheat, moong dal,garlic, onion, bitter gourd, papaya and green banana arebeneficial. The food articles to avoid are seeds of Masa (blackphaseolus bean), Kulattha (dolichos beans), pea, legumes,radish, sugarcane products, wine, and yogurt. Because uricacid is the end product of protein metabolism, it is importantto avoid high-protein diet.It is critical in the treatment of Goutthat the patient is kept well hydrated, Sleeping during theday, exposure to heat, and excessive exercising should beavoided.Here are some Ayurvedic treatments suggested by Dr.Lakshmi C. Mishra, Director of National Center for Ayurvedaand Toxicology, USA :1. Guduchi (T. cordifolia) decoction of 14 to 28 ml made from 6 to 8 g of powder of leaves and stem to be ingested with purified guggul (2 to 4 g, three times/day)2. Decoction of equal parts of vasa (Adhatoda vasica) leaves, stem of guduchi, and fruit pulp of Aaragvadha (Cassia) of 14 to 18 ml taken with castor oil (7 to 14 ml two times/day)3. Kishora guggul and Punarnavadi guggul (3 g/day)| DECEMBER 2014
ANCIENT MEDICINE 63Use wholegrain bread, cereals and increase intake of seasonalfruits (except banana). Swallow 2-3 fresh, peeled garlic buds with water on an empty stomach in the morning.Do light and gentle exercises. Eat 1 apple after every meal as it neutralises uric acidMassage the joints gently with lukewarm sesame oil for 20-30 Drink 8-10 glasses of water daily to cleanse toxins from theminutes. body.Keep the body warm. P. Annantharajan, NDA Practitioner and Natural Treatment Health consultant based in Klang. He can be reached at [email protected] annantha.rajan DECEMBER 2014 |
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