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The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption Gets Its First Interview In Indian Daily Hindustan Times

Gaurav Mishra — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:24:18 +0000

Quick Summary: Check out my interview in Indian daily Hindustan Times for ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’, my year-long book-as-a-blog experiment in why we choose to consume or not.

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‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’ is my year-long blog-as-a-book experiment in why we choose to consume, or not.

If you haven’t yet subscribed to ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’, you should subscribe to it now, for free, in a feed reader, or by e-mail.

Yesterday, my first interview for ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’ was published in Indian daily Hindustan Times.

The interview was published on the front page of the Delhi edition –

– and the city section in the Mumbai edition –

One interesting thing I learned yesterday is that different editions of a newspaper may publish different versions of a story.

The Mumbai Edition published the full story — see text below — complete with my rules and URL.

The Delhi Edition published a much shorter version of the story — also available online — but it was on the front page and I’m not complaining at all.

The Simple Life

Marketing professional Gaurav Mishra has embarked on an intriguing experiment: a no-frills, no-indulgences, low-consumption life

Riddhi Shah, Mumbai
riddhi.shah@hindustantimes.com
Sunday, April 13, 2008

Imagine never being able to eat out; not even a vada pav at the station. Never being able to go shopping for clothes or for gadgets. Or being able to go to the movies. Imagine not using a car or a taxi, walking as much as you can and taking the train. And having to do all the housework yourself.

Sounds like your worst nightmare? For 28-year-old Gaurav Mishra, it’s just an average day in his life. Not because he’s living a life of poverty; in fact, he’s an assistant general manager at one of India’s leading automobile companies.

But for an entire year, Mishra has set off on an experiment to go “off consumption” - which, by his definition, means that he won’t buy anything unless it’s a necessity .

“I got tired of trying to equate happiness with consumption. I’d bought so many clothes, books, DVDs and immersed myself in luxury I had success, I had money, but . didn’t know the purpose of my life,” says the Patna native.

His yearlong experiment, he says, is an attempt at finding a way to lead a simpler life. “Besides, I’ve realised that people getting tired of consumerism is going to be a big trend. And as a marketer, it’s a trend that I want to study I’m hoping this year will give me insights into what marketers need to prepare for in the future,” says Mishra, who holds an MBA from IIM-Bangalore. And like any good marketer, he also knows the latent potential of his unique experiment - Mishra is waiting for that big book deal to come through even as he writes about his daily experiences on his blog (www.gauravonomics.com). Necessity or not?

Whenever he tells people about his experiment, says Mishra, the first question is always: how does one define a necessity? But he deliberately refrains from a concrete definition. “Part of the point of the project is to figure out what exactly constitutes a necessity. That’s one of the insights I’m looking for,” he argues.

In the three weeks since he’s given up consumption, he’s already learned enough about marketing and the future of consumerism to fill a few chapters of his book: For in- stance, he says that even if he’s given up McDonald’s burgers, he’s still buying relatively expensive muesli because he considers the latter a necessity. So, he concludes, “Health food will continue to grow as a segment even if fast food doesn’t.” Or, he relates, “Because I can’t go to restaurants anymore, I’m beginning to experience the absolute lack of public places in the city It would . be a great marketing tactic for Barista and Café Coffee Day to position them selves as free spaces rather than exclusive cafes.”

He’s also tapping into the increasing populari ty of the ‘swapping economy’, after being forced to look for alternative accommodation instead of a five-star hotel the next time he travels on business. “I signed up for something called couch surfing, in which people offer their couches to strangers for free. Such free or barter arrangements promise to be a huge thing in the future,” says Mishra.

But it’s only early days. There are another 344 days to see through, and he foresees, “The biggest problem promises to be my social life. I’m worried about how I’ll continue to relate to my friends if I can’t go to a restaurant, a movie or a bar. Right now, they’re still willing to come over or meet me for a walk, or cook for me when I visit them, but at some point it’ll become too much of an effort. What will I do then?”

And of course, there’s the problem of maintaining a love life – how does a 28-year-old take a girl out on a low-consumption date? “So far, I’ve been creative and gone to Juhu beach once and cooked dinner twice, but at some point I might run out of options,” Mishra confesses.

There are other possible roadblocks. While cleaning and cooking doesn’t seem like much of a chore right now, there’s always the possibility of coming back to a dirty house, and getting desperate enough to ask his maid to come back.”

For right now though, Mishra is focusing on make the project as much of a public spectacle as possible. “It’s a way of keeping myself in check. The more people know about it, the bigger fool I’ll make of myself if I fail to see this through,” he says.

It’s not going to be easy, of course. “I’ve completely taken out all comfort food from my life. Even something as simple as eating ice cream is a problem. So,” jokes Mishra, “I’m just going to have to be happy all the time.”

Mishra’s Laws of Low Consumption

- Only basic groceries, toiletries and household items are allowed.
- Eating out and going out for paid entertainment are not allowed.
- Buying clothes, accessories and gadgets is not allowed, but repairing and borrowing them is.
- Buying books, music, or movies is not allowed, online or offline.
- Mass media are not allowed.
- Household help is not allowed.
- Buying gifts is not allowed, but giving and receiving gifts is.
- Consuming what he already has is allowed. He will only replenish if necessary.
- Work is sacrosanct; he will not let his experiment interfere with his ability to work.

Check out ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’, India’s first marketing book-as-a-blog. Subscribe to my full feed in a feed reader or by e-mail.

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Watch Out For My Next Book — The Age of Conversation 2.0: Why Don’t People Get It?

Gaurav Mishra — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 03:30:24 +0000

Quick Summary: After the runaway success of the original ‘Age of Conversation’, watch out for my next collaborative book — ‘The Age of Conversation 2.0: Why Don’t People Get It?’

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After the runaway success of ‘The Age of Conversation’ — it reached #262 in books and #36 in business and investing books on Amazon — it’s time for ‘The Age of Conversation 2.0: Why Don’t People Get It?’

There are three reasons why ‘The Age of Conversation 2.0: Why Don’t People Get It?’ is likely to be even better than the original ‘Age of Conversation’ –

1. It has 275 authors, instead of 100, and the author list is a who’s who of the world’s best marketing and social media thinkers.

2. The theme of the book is a question — ‘Why Don’t People Get It?’ — that social media enthusiasts often ask themselves. With 275 answers to the question, the book is likely to become the reference source for understanding ‘Why Don’t People Get It?’

3. The contributions/ chapters will be focused on eight sections related to the broad ‘Why Don’t People Get It?’ theme of the book. With 275 authors, each section will have enough depth, and all the sections will fit together to provide multiple perspectives on the question of ‘Why Don’t People Get It?’

Here is the complete list of the 275 authors of ‘The Age of Conversation 2.0: Why Don’t People Get It?’ –

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Watch out for ‘The Age of Conversation 2.0: Why Don’t People Get It?’

Check out ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’, India’s first marketing book-as-a-blog. Subscribe to my full feed in a feed reader or by e-mail.

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Download the Excellent ‘Best-Kept Marketing Secrets’ e-Book

Gaurav Mishra — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 12:42:21 +0000

Quick Summary: Download a copy of the excellent ‘Best-Kept Marketing Secrets’ e-book for great marketing tips from 100 experts, including yours truly.

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Anita Campbell of Small Business Trends had asked some of the world’s top marketers, small business experts and bloggers — including Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki and John Battelle — to share one of their best kept marketing secrets.

Now, she has compiled the best 100 tips from her compilation of best kept marketing secrets into an excellent e-book called ‘Best-Kept Marketing Secrets: 100 Experts Dish With Their Marketing Tips’.

The 33 page e-book has 100 expert tips across various marketing related topics like relationship marketing, marketing strategy, online marketing and social media, including my own tip on learning to make the perfect elevator pitch –

- Step 1 — Describe your idea in one or two sentences. Give both facts as they are and your own opinions.

- Step 2 — Specify what exactly you want to be done, by when and by whom.

- Step 3 — Give three reasons why, including examples to illustrate the benefits.

Here is the complete alphabetical list of the 100 contributors –

If you are a marketer, or if you are interested in marketing, I would strongly recommend that you download the e-book today itself.

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The Best of Indian Business Blogs: A Weekly Digest by Business Bloggers You Trust (Week Two)

Gaurav Mishra — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:26:06 +0000

Quick Summary: Check out the second edition of ‘The Best of Indian Business Blogs’, a weekly digest by business bloggers you trust.

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The Idea

The basic idea is simple: we form a network of five to ten influential Indian business bloggers to promote link-worthy posts from other Indian business bloggers in the form of a weekly digest published on our respective blogs.

The People

The present members in our network are (in alphabetical order):-

- Gaurav Mishra, that is, yours truly, is a marketer and a social media enthusiast (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Gautam Ghosh is an HR professional and a veteran business blogger (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Kiruba Shankar is India’s original A-list blogger and podcaster and a regular speaker at technology conferences (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Palin Ningthoujam is a public relations professional and the founder of India PR Blog (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Rajesh Lalwani is the founder of social media agency Blogworks (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

- Ranjan Varma is the writer of personal finance online weekly Personal Finance 2.01 (e-Book, Blog, Facebook and Twitter).

- VeerChand Bothra is the organizer of Mumbai Mobile Mondays and head of business development at MyToday (Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).

The Process

Over the week, we share posts between each other, and select a set of 3-5 posts to highlight. The posts can include all business-related topics including marketing, advertising, public relations, human resource management, finance, and entrepreneurship. The idea is to not link to each others’ posts, unless one of us has written a real gem.

Every Monday, all of us link to the same set of posts, with our own unique perspectives on them. By linking to the same posts together, we maximize the benefit we pass on to the linked blogs, both in terms of traffic and Google juice. By providing our multiple unique perspective on the posts, we hope to kick off conversations around these posts in the Indian business blogging community.

The Best of Indian Business Blogs: Weekly Digest 2

- Kamla Bhatt interviews ITwoFS’s Karthik Srinivasan on plagiarism in Indian film music

My top-of-the-mind views: While the Indian music industry is very vocal about piracy, it’s especially silent on the issue of plagiarism. ITwoFs (for IIFS, or Inspired Indian Film Songs), whose tag line is ‘Chronicles of Plagiarism in Indian Film Music’, is a website by communications professional Karthik Srinivasan devoted to exposing over 500+ instances of such ‘inspirations’ by Indian film musicians. Kamla does a great interview to bring out Karthik’s range of knowledge about music. Karthik, by the way, also writes a fascinating 100 word review blog at MilliBlog.

- Maninder points out that the Idea Rocks India’s MSN microsite is a wrong idea

My top-of-the-mind views: Idea Cellular is promoting ‘Idea Rocks India’ as India’s ‘first online singing contest’, but instead of creating their own website, they have hosted the contets on an MSN microsite. Maninder points out several reasons why the brand, and the property, are being shortchanged in this execution. To, me, this is another example of how agencies and brand managers do not benefit from the digital medium in spite of spending money on it, because they approach it from a mass media paradigm.

- Kartik Varma, co-founder of iTrust.in, writes a three part series on startup financing in India at Pluggd.in: part 1, part 2, part 3.

My top-of-the-mind views: Kartik uses his experience in raising funding for iTrust.in to give some valuable insights on how much capital to raise in the first round, how to calculate the valuation of your startup, and how to read through the various clauses on a term sheet. I have been tracking the Indian startup scene for a while now because I want to start one of my own, and Kartik ’s series tells me that there is still much about running a startup that I don’t quite understand.

- Mayank Bidawatka, Head of Marketing at RedBus.in writes a guest post on Pluggd.in to demystify SEO and SEM concepts for startups.

My top-of-the-mind views: Mayank’s post will serve as a great starting point for a startup trying to build online presence. I totally agree with Mayank that SEM is more important to kick start your web presence initially, while SEO is more important over the long term. Therefore, even as I fine-tune the SEO for my new project ‘The Marketer Who Went Off Consumption’, I have started a Google AdWords campaign to give it the initial push.

- Sudipto Majumdar, CTO of Zapak, outlines the rise of gaming cafes in India and Sashi Reddi, founder of FXLabs Studios, predicts that 2008 will be the breakout year for the Indian gaming business.

My top-of-the-mind views: I haven’t really tracked the Indian gaming industry so far, except pushing for a brand-centric business model for mobile advergaming, but Sudipto’s and Sashi’s posts have triggered enough interest in me to start a separate gaming category on this blog.

Your Turn Now

We have done our part by starting the conversation. Now, it’s your turn to carry on the conversation by commenting on these posts, linking to these posts in your own blogs, giving us feedback on our idea and execution, or suggesting more posts for our next week’s digest.

Also see: Gaurav Mishra Week 1, Rajesh Lalwani Week 1, Ranjan Varma Week 1, Palin Ningthoujam Week 2, Ranjan Varma Week 2.

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