Hi reader!

Umair Kazi no longer blogs here. He’s moved to blue-er pastures over at www.TheIdeaArtist.com

All content that’s posted here is also available there, so jump to The Idea Artist!

Michael Jackson is/was the very definition of fame. A year after his demise, it’s not too late to wonder what transformed Michael the man into Michael the legend.

Considered by many to be the greatest showman in history, Jackson’s story is as bizarre as they get. We’re all well versed with his eccentricities, the over-the-top stunts, and the sheer opulence he surrounded himself with. But the fact of the matter remains: it worked. From his days in the Jackson 5 all the way to his funeral, he was a source of entertainment and awe for countless people. Love him or hate him, there’s a lot to learn from his example.

If I were to pick one distinguishing trait in Michael’s personality that was responsible for his success, it would be his ability to break the norm. Michael wasn’t following the rule book, he was writing his own. This man was the embodiment of unpredictability. While most people were writing his eccentricity off as publicity stunts and stories for ‘stardom-gone-bad’, Wacko Jacko continued being pure genius. Bewildering pundits, frustrating managers, and upstaging every rule in the book, good ol’ Wacko climbed ever higher on the star scales.

In an industry dominated with the standard 5 minute music video format, Thriller was a 14 minute mini-movie complete with a distinguishable start, middle, and ending. Revolutionary. Michael loses the other white glove and does the moonwalk. Bizarre, but instant cult classic. Changing his skin. Sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber. Changing his nose. Buying the elephant man’s remains for an obscenely large amount of money. Changing his jaw. Living in a place called Neverland. If there was one thing Michael knew about, it was how to break through the mold.

Today Michael Jackson is dead, but he leaves behind a lesson and a story. Sometimes being Wacko is the smartest thing you can do. Long live the King.

Illustration credit: Eyadness

My new experiment: rebranding this blog.

What do you think I should rename it to?

I’m open to any and every suggestion. It doesn’t need to have my name in the title.

Drop your idea into the comment box! Thanks.

When I was a kid, we marveled at the rumor that each Rolls Royce was customized to the customer’s preference. It seemed like the perfect example of that bizarre freedom Arab Sheikh-type rich people had in their choices. Today Scion, a budget Toyota brand targeted to the youth, offers essentially the same customization.

Almost every marketer knows about the four Ps of marketing: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Smart marketers, however, are beginning the realize the importance of the a new P, a P that has been considered taboo and heretical in the past: Participation.

People should be an integral part of your brand. When you give your customers a chance to customize your product or service (as you can do with a lot of car manufacturers now), you’re making them participate. When you give them a forum where they can mold your brand’s decisions (ala www.mystarbucksidea.com), you’re making them participate. When your customers interact with you on your facebook page (my friend’s business, Smokey’s Sheesha, is showing some impressive growth through facebook interactions), that’s participation.

Marketing wise, everybody’s in the service industry. We do and make what the customer wants. In order to learn what that actually is, you need to be in a close relationship with your customer.

What most marketers forget: it’s a process. Due to changing dynamics of the customer, your feedback/inputs will also be constantly updating. Businesses have no choice but to evolve continuously.

What changes would you like to see on this blog/how can I make it a better experience for you?

Illustration: Scion

Did you read today’s newspaper? It had 20 pages full of really important stuff that happened around the world. And it just so happens, they perfectly managed to fit all of that in that space. Your copy got just the right things, the stuff that you really did need to know. When the paper was going out to print, the Editor said “Brilliant, everything worthwhile is in there. Send it to the press!”. It was genius.

They did the same thing yesterday.

And the day before, and the day before.

The same 20 pages, every day without fail. All the newsworthy things fit. Nothing gets left out, neither is anything trivial included.

Seems kind of fishy to me. I suspect they sometimes have space left over and fill it up with trivial news. And sometimes they miss out on valuable stuff because they are limited by the number of pages.

Online, things are different. This blogpost can be as big or as small as possible. It can be as frequent as needed. No fodder or missouts, only the stuff that the web publisher wants to be there.

Can you afford to spend your time and attention on something that might be fodder?

Photograph Courtesy: National Archief

Amidst the wide variety of rumours around Cyclone PHET, one concern was that the authorities were evacuating residences on the seaview belt. That, coupled with the media scare, painted a giant tidal wave in my head, washing over everything in its path.

Which of the things in my apartment would I “save” before leaving it at the mercy of the big wave?

Assuming that the fairly standard “crucial documents” option is off the table, on what value system would I analyze the worth of the things that lie around my house? I have but one moment to put my entire past life into perspective and gauge the values of its physical remnants.

Should it be the newest gadget I bought? Or should it be something far more seasoned, something I have memories with? Should I pick up my most expensive possession? Or the rarest one?

What 5 material things would you pick if you had to give up everything else in your immediate surrounding?

Decided? Good, now get rid of everything else.

Photo Credit: Sylvar

There are two types of personalities operating in your workplace, the Hedgehog and the Fox.

The Hedgehog has one grand idea or one big goal. Spiking up, it barrels towards this destination with unmatched commitment. The plan is simple: there is but one path, it should be followed. Obstacles are not to be avoided, they are to be confronted. Either the obstacle will get off the path after anticipating or colliding with the spiky hedgehog (success) or it will be insurmountable and halt the hedgehog’s motion (failure). Remember the people in the meeting that just won’t agree to anything but their own viewpoint? Those are hedgehogs.

The Fox has a broad sense of direction. There is an agenda, but the itinerary is fluid. The fox sidesteps obstacles, creates ad-hoc pathways, and invents creative solutions on the go. This makes their working patterns inconsistent and often contradictory. It’s frustrating and difficult to follow or match a fox’s pace, because its behavior is unpredictable. Ever silently shout the following words to someone?: “But yesterday you said the exact opposite thing!” That’s a fox.

Hedgehogs and foxes are natural adversaries. Which one are you and which is your boss?

Illustration Credit: Unknown.

Riaz Lalji, a business tycoon and allegedly a friend of Asif Zardari, returned home after being missing for 24 hours. In Pakistan, people get kidnapped everyday. But in this case, the entire state machinery bent over backwards to recover Laljee. Security and intelligence agencies, ministers, law enforcement, the works. He seemed too important a person to be missing for so long!

So when he returned home, there was a sigh of relief from every quarter. Interior Minister Rahman Malik congratulated the agencies on a job well done. Thanks to the unprecedented efficiency, the President’s close friend returned home. Good work, boys. Happy ending.

Except for one tiny detail. His driver and gunman are still missing. These two companions of his, who would otherwise be totally unimportant to the kidnappers, took the risk of serving this man and paid the price. Why has the media hooplah moved on? Where did the urgency go? The job isn’t done yet.

This is selective justice. The more important and influential you are, the better the law will work for you.

Illustration Credit: Unknown.

For lunch, I went to a dhaba at Mohammad Ali Society. Chana daal fry with fresh naans. Washed it down with a Pepsi. The meal was super delicious, and left me very happy indeed. Total cost 48 rupees.

Later that evening, I went to an upscale restaurant in Clifton. Ended up paying 1000 rupees for dinner. In both cases, I loved the food. Same amount of satisfaction, same ‘ahh… that hits the spot’ feeling in my head. Yet, despite the similarity in utility, I remember the latter experience better, even blogged about it.

It’s a slippery slope, this. Boutique brands and fashion labels have long been selling overpriced products by bundling them with glamor. Here, however, the case was different. I liked the dinner because it was a unique experience, not because it was an expensive one.

The world is shifting away from the factory model. Most bang for the buck is no longer the consumer’s mantra. They are looking for experiences, and for stories. If you tell them a story that is worth being part of, they’ll gladly pay a premium for it.

(Totally unrelated but undoubtedly awesome) Illustration: The Oatmeal

These days, most of my friends are busy piecing together their grad school applications. To be honest, I just don’t see the point. In the not-so-distant past, there was a physical limit on knowledge. University libraries could afford to get books from across the world, most of which were beyond the reach of an individual. A professor could dispense knowledge as far as his vocal chords would permit. Therefore, universities and colleges served as ideal physical spaces where ideas could travel faster and easier. The formal educational institute was a convener, it was the middleman.

The times, however, are a changin’. Personal publishing tools like Youtube, Blogspot, and Twitter make it very easy for ideas to be communicated at breakneck speed. On the internet, the reach of information and knowledge is virtually unlimited. An eBook in PDF format can reach millions of people at zero marginal cost. The experts now have a more versatile voice, for it comes via their blog posts, their twitter feeds, and their online articles.

Why settle for your professor, who relies on the information in an expert-written book, when you can simply email the expert and find out whatever you need to know?