a flashback, a social media success story and a craving for doughnuts.

I was never too fond of doughnuts. A little doughnut franchise in Bombay changed that.

Mad Over Donuts. (M.O.D.)

Their doughnuts (I can't bring myself to spell it as donuts) redefine delicious. They are unbelievably and irresistibly scrumptious. My cousins introduced me to M.O.D. during my stay in Bombay at my aunt's place. We'd go to the Juhu branch at midnight (funnily enough I've never been there earlier) with my Khalu (mom's sister's husband) and spend about twenty minutes debating on the flavours and delectable appearance of the batch displayed and finally select two each. In a couple of minutes there would be no trace left of them except for the melted chocolate smeared around our (my) mouths and this too would miraculously vanish as our tongues were stretched out to the limit to get every speck of frosting that had escaped, back into those salivary glands.

The bff and I, about to dig in.
My flavour? 'Color Me Bad' - sprinkles on melted hazelnut chocolate. Deeelish.

Then, heaving huge contented sighs, we'd select another dozen or so doughnuts for the rest of the family at home. The family at home receive their wares joyfully, and hurriedly call dibs on their favourite flavours and put the box in the fridge for the next day (as it is now past 2 am). Unfortunately they never get to sink their teeth into the ones of their choice (or at all) as by morning, there are just a couple of doughnuts left from the dozen, the rest having been devoured up in the dead of night. The perpetrators are blameless of course. It is not their fault. You cannot leave a boxful of the world's most heavenly goodies unguarded and expect it to remain untouched, lying in wait for you.

If I'm not wrong, this is the first and only Indian brand of doughnuts. And oh boy, their lil hole 'n ones are the best in the whole friggin' world.

What makes them the best?

1) Great service and fresh stock even at 1 am (which is when they close for the day).

2) Home delivery till midnight.

3) They have awesome promotions - buy 2 for Rs. 99 and get a cappuccino free, buy 9 get 3 free.. We'd never leave with less than a dozen.

4) THE VARIETY.
5) No one makes doughnuts like them. NO ONE. Not Dunkin', not Krispy Kreme.. Do you dig? NO ONE! Formidable competition to say the least.

Besides that?

The marketing is bloody brilliant.
Never having lived in Bombay, I can only comment on the internet marketing. Being a marketing graduate, I am in awe. The website kicks traditional out on the street. M.O.D. has positioned itself as fun and extremely lovable and that's the secret behind its mass appeal (the vision statement will tell you all you need to know). From cute graphics to an extensive and intelligent play on words (employees are called M.O.D. Partners-in-Crumbs), the offbeat site is pretty darn neat.

I haven't even started on their Facebook page. It has GOT to be my favourite company fanpage. Judging from the escalating fanbase, it's a significant contributor to building their brand equity.
What's so special about it? The entire page brims with creativity. It's fun. It's interactive. There are promotions and contests specifically targeted towards Facebook fans, pictures just for the page (this one being my personal favourite), endearing status messages that encourage fans to partake and express their ardent love for doughnuts while M.O.D reciprocates the love.

Their recent status message inspired me to blog about them.
"We like the 'likes' of you!"

That dear readers, is how a brand should use social media.

Now, I languish for a Color Me Bad.
M.O.D. needs to expand to the Gulf. Starting with Kuwait.


Picture courtesy: Logo 'borrowed' from M.O.D.'s Facebook page. I'm sure they won't mind :)

smell your soap.. and test it too

Do you ever look at the testers of liquid hand soap and wonder, 'how on earth am I supposed to 'test' that stuff without water??'

I do.

I thought the same when I saw the shelves and shelves of Bath and Body Works' liquid soap of all kinds of delicious varieties - grapefruit, cherry blossom, midnight pomegranate etc. Each type had a tester bottle. What for?

But then, while looking at the moisturizing creams, I saw this.

Genius.

Browsing through a store like this entails sniffing and dabbing ones' palms with scented creams, lotions, spritzing wrists with body mists and sprays and at the end of the scrutiny one might smell something like a BABW outlet herself. A wash basin within with a varied choice of aromatic soaps is very welcome. Naturally, I washed my hands so they were redolent of the essence of pink grapefruit. [I have a thing about clean hands (and for pink grapefruit). They NEED to be clean. At all costs. And the tiles were pretty :)]

Why did Bath and Body Works take so long to get here? It beats its competitors (the ones here anyway) by a mile and a half. It's difficult to resist the gorgeous whiffs emanating from the store on walking by it, scents so pleasing to the ol' snout.

Lessons from The Ten Commandments: A Management Student's Perspective

I just watched The Ten Commandments again, one of my dad's all time favourites. It stunned me to see how many underlying messages it held of management and marketing. Here's what you can learn from the 1956 movie, starring Charlton Heston and the ultra awesome and exotic Yul Brynner (remember The King and I? Etcetera etcetera etcetera).

Disclaimer: This is in relation to the events in the movie The Ten Commandments (1956) and ONLY the movie and is NOT a religious post. It is not my intention to hurt anyone's sentiments so don't accuse me of blasphemy or disrespect. Prophets were many things, this is just one aspect that has not been previously discussed. Please take it in the right spirit. Now read on :)

1) Offer your slaves, er employees, incentives and they will be happier workers.

While Moses is still the Prince of Egypt, the Hebrew slaves are whipped and driven mercilessly to give their all in construction of the temples in time for the Pharoah's jubilee. Prince Moses is sent to oversee the work as Rameses' methods are not bringing in quicker results. What does Moses do? He treats the people with respect and kindness, gives them more rations of grain by raiding the temple granaries and granting them a day off every week. In short, he gives them incentives. The people though not satisfied in the circumstances of course (let's not forget they're still driven like slaves), are motivated to work.

Lesson: Offer relevant incentives that will motivate and satisfy employees. Most importantly, don't treat them like slaves else they will leave your company like the Hebrews left Egypt.

2) A brand ambassador with a great personality can work wonders.

When the Hebrews are rushing through the parting of the Red Sea, Joshua, Moses’ second-in-command, suggests to him - 'stand on that rock, you'll give them hope.' Seeing the wisdom of the suggestion, Moses takes his advice.

Lesson: Strive to be a figure of inspiration, a brand ambassador to your company and the world.

3) The importance of a leader having reliable backup cannot be undermined.

Joshua does his fair share of organizing the tribes and cattle of thousands in the exodus. He is a good man, very likable, a motivator with unshakable faith in Moses, while extremely efficient in getting things done. As seen in the point above, Moses values his feedback and takes his suggestions seriously.

Lesson: Invest in competent and loyal managerial staff, giving sincere thought to their ideas and suggestions. Encouraging two-way communication and incorporating a system of decentralized decision making will keep employees motivated and ensure the company runs smoothly and successfully.

4) Beware of employees that hold their interests above the good of the company.

Dathan is a Hebrew slave, an extremely annoying character in the movie who has wormed his way into the Pharoah's good graces. When the Hebrews are freed, he loses his position of authority over the slaves as he too must join the exodus, albeit against his will. The snake that he is, he consistently tries to turn the people against Moses and towards himself, but never succeeds, as Moses always has a wondrous miracle that reassures the people.

Lesson: Be wary of employees sowing discord in the office by spreading malicious lies, and who wouldn’t think twice about stooping low enough to malign the company if it meant furthering their own interest.

5) Customer loyalty cannot be taken for granted.

While Moses is at Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments from God, most of his people think he will not return. They astonishingly renounce their age old faith and, enticed by Dathan’s inflammatory speeches, turn away from their beliefs.

Lesson: Don’t take your existing customers for granted. Failure to execute timely communication or advertising will result in your customers feeling neglected, giving your competitors an ideal opportunity to lure them from you.

6) Make your own decisions.

Nefertiri, the wife of the Pharoah Rameses, goads her husband into going after Moses and to defy God. Rameses, the egotist that he is, ignores the advice of his counsellors and is incited against his better judgement, consequently following Moses and his people with his army in bitter rage, which eventually leads to his own decided destruction.

Lesson: Listen to what all your Board members and officers have to say, but ultimately any decision rests with you. Rely on your own intelligence, morals and experience; keep sentiments and ego strictly out of business, else you might end up like Rameses, losing everything.

So let it be written.

(Note on the text: The position of the Hebrews changes from employees to customers because of the change in their relationship with Moses, who goes from Egyptian prince to Hebrew prophet).