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Marketing Battles

BT CROSSFIRE: From left, Santosh Desai, Vibha Paul Rishi, Anuroop 'Tony' Singh, Suhel Seth, Syeda Imam, & Sanjiv Kumar

There wasn't blood on the floor, as moderator Suhel Seth promised at the beginning of the event, but the first of the BT Crossfires-a series of panel discussions organised by Business Today in association with the Taj group of resorts and hotels-that happened in Delhi on August 10th, provided much food for thought. The panelists, Santosh Desai of McCann, Vibha Rishi of PepsiCo-battling jet-lag, but that didn't affect her sharp wit in anyway-Anuroop 'Tony' Singh of Max New York Life, Syeda Imam of Contract, and Sanjiv Kumar of Candico had an interesting take on the topic of discussion, Marketing In India: Is there anything Indian about it? Co-sponsored by Indian Airlines/Alliance Air, and Famous Grouse, the event was witnessed by close to 200 advertising and marketing professionals. To no one's surprise, the panel concluded that while it was important to factor in the unique characteristics of the Indian consumer and the Indian marketplace into the marketing-process, Indian companies could learn a lot from the way multinationals approach the discipline of marketing. By the time you read this, the second Crossfire, scheduled in Mumbai (the topic being the relevance of Indian advertising in the global context) would have happened too. And if you happened to miss any of the live discussions, you can catch up with them on media-partner CNBC India's Storyboard.

DINESH PALIWAL: A green thumb to relieve stress

Flower Power?

He's the first Asian on the executive committee of Asea Brown Boveri. Meet Dinesh C. Paliwal, 43, an Agra-lad who now oversees, from his Zurich-base, ABB's process industries with 14,000 employees in 40 countries. (Even Agra's most famous export, Shah Jahan, could not dream of wielding the sceptre over such a wide territory). Life is hectic for a man who spends most of his time meeting customers. ''Keeping in constant touch with the customer takes its toll and I spend weeks and even months outside without even seeing the face of my family,'' confesses the La Frolle Single Malt connoisseur. The lifestyle does take its toll, but Paliwal manages to get back in groove with a little help from music and gardening. ''Gardening is the best stress-reliever I have found, and I grow all kinds of flowers and fruits in my Zurich home,'' he says. ''Besides, I enjoy listening to classical music. Together, gardening and melody, help keep me in shape.''

KIRAN KARNIK: The software industry's new voice

Nasscom's Next

Now that NASSCOM has finally decided on Dewang Mehta's successor, it is time to take a closer look at the man in the hot seat. Almost everyone knows of Kiran Karnik's almost-decade-long stint at Discovery Channel before he decided to hang up his (hiking) boots. What most people don't know is that Karnik's tryst with it started way back: in the sixties, as a student of IIM-Ahmedabad, he punched cards on a computer ''as big as a room''; in the seventies, he was remote-sensing data at the Indian Space Research Organisation; and in the 1980s, he came up with the concept of class-Computer Literacy and Studies in School. Dewang's will be a tough act to live up to, but if anyone can do it, Karnik, a cricket-freak who looks every bit a distinguished professor, probably can. Maybe he can find some tips in the works of his favourite authors: Douglas Adams, Jean-Paul Sartre, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Arthur C. Clarke.

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