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Zero CAC is the best festival gift - Paul Writer
As the festival season – and end of the year – is upon us having a zero Customer Acquisition Cost is the gift that founders, CEOs and CMOs crave. But sadly it is often a mirage. The Perfect Product It’s a common belief that if your product is good, it will sell itself. You know, […]
I'm not a Swiftie, but I'm tribal too. IYKYK - Paul Writer
Billionaire Taylor Swift announced that she was engaged to Travis Kelce on instagram. The announcement referred to her as the English teacher and Kelce as the gym teacher – apparently what the fandom sees them as. There’s a song referencing him which is the clip used in the announcement. All very insider focused – and […]
Labubus and Beauty Fridges. Big Human Trends. - Paul Writer
When stoves replaced the bonfire, cooking times did not actually reduce. Menus (and waistlines) expanded and women ended up cooking all day long to meet the previously unknown need for porridges and sauteed veggies. When piped water came along, people just started having more luxurious baths, and adding bathrooms to every room. Growing up I […]
Oh to be Ryan Reynolds - Paul Writer
You’ve probably heard about the cool rebuttal ad that Hollywood Star Gwyneth Paltrow did for Astronomer, the company benefiting from unexpected awareness after its CEO got caught on a Coldplay kisscam. The ad was made by Ryan Reynold’s ad agency, maximum effort, and featured Coldplay frontman, Chris Martin’s ex-wife, Ms Paltrow. If you go to […]
Increasing Indeed's Brand Presence in India through a unique digital campaign - Paul Writer
Indeed, the world’s largest online hiring portal, sought to expand aggressively in the Indian job market. Paul Writer was engaged as a consultant to enhance Indeed’s brand presence, increase the user base, and elevate user engagement and value. The challenge was to devise a unique and executable brand campaign to achieve these goals. About the […]
Oi, Marie, it’s just marketing science! - Paul Writer
A packet of Marie biscuits is a staple in my pantry. I’ve never been fussed about which brand. A flood of ads by Parle asking customers to demand Parle Marie made it to my media dark feed. My first reaction was that the ads are wasteful because they don’t explain WHY the customer must choose […]
Apple TV+ scores my eyeball with great marketing - Paul Writer
I run this really cool marketers community on Whatsapp. It sometimes gets to me that a lot of what is shared there is advertising. Don’t get me wrong – I opted out of my IIM campus placement (Reliance!) to join advertising (Ogilvy & Mather). But that was like a million years ago. A David Ogilvy […]
Half plate of marketing, please - Paul Writer
“Didn’t you like our rotis?” asked the lady who runs the lunch counter at CoWrks. I had left one half uneaten, as, loaded with oil, it was too much. I ordered on the petpooja app which did not offer modifications. But the lady noted my preference. I was touched that she noticed, and cared. She cannot […]
Elon & I are safe, but LJP OTW - Paul Writer
We’re both CEOs and that job is ranked 64 in a list of 65 jobs that will survive AI. Call me a cockroach all you want, but I am happy to be amongst the chosen ones. The jobs that are safer require human attributes such as social skills, interpersonal relationships, and emotional intelligence. Use of arms […]
My podcast is like a homemade cake :) - Paul Writer
How can you stand out even when you don’t have a ton of money to burn? That’s the topic of my shiny new podcast. And because I want to make use of the power of AI while retaining the authenticity of my voice, I have chosen to do this as an end-to-end project – I […]
Escalator or Walkalator - both move from A to B - Paul Writer
For our wedding anniversary my husband and I went to Noon Wines, a Bangalore institution that is older than our relationship. Its charm is that nothing ever changes – you can get homemade wine served with a side of cheese and pineapple sticks topped with a pink cherry. We are faithful to other unchanging places […]
Blue Nectar making organic space in cluttered D2C Beauty Industry - Paul Writer
D2C Beauty Industry is cluttered The Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) beauty industry in India has experienced significant growth in size and competition in recent years. This has been fuelled by social media, digital adoption, and changing consumer preferences. Not only have customers in the D2C industry grown manyfold, brands vying for the same customer attention have grown […]
Kanye and the Wild West of AI & Inclusivity - Paul Writer
Kanye West aired an ad during Super Bowl that had a link to a site that sold Swastika t-shirts labeled HH. The site changed its merchandize after receiving approval for the ad. His social media posts made it quite clear that this was Nazi-linked and not a religious symbol to him. Shopify, a Canadian company has taken down his […]
30% off works for DeepSeek. And you. - Paul Writer
The OpenAI rival from China has trashed share markets and pretty much broken the internet. All DeepSeek had to do was put out its product on the same day as Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States and release a white paper – yes a white paper! – about how they did it. […]
I want to bill like Simon Sinek. Not Infosys. - Paul Writer
When I joined Infosys in 1998 my salary more than doubled from my previous job at Ogilvy Advertising. Advertising agencies quite simply didn’t make the kind of money that IT services did. Clients paid more for the work done by Infosys than they did Ogilvy. So the way to increase profits is either make the […]
Let them have Ganji Chudail. Or cake. - Paul Writer
Ganji Chudail (GC) is an animated green witch created for the YouTube channel Majedar Kahani. She is also now the latest “brand” property with Swiggy, Nykaa, YouTube, Netflix using the character in ads. Yeah, sure, I’m happy that local content is being licensed and the ads are funny, but are marketers losing the plot? The […]
2025: Instant Happiness! Not. - Paul Writer
Last year AI was still shiny and full of promise. I’m already in the trough of disillusionment as a consumer. It ain’t Maggi. It doesn’t come with a simple set of instructions that you follow for 2 minutes three days in a row, and change your habits forever. Trend 1: Human Intelligence vs AI Shoppers […]
Is Kim Kardashian's bot prophetic? - Paul Writer
Kim recently posed with Tesla’s robot and self-driving car. Apparently totally for free! I guess it does make sense to cozy up to your future overlords. You’re in a cab and the driver suggests you deviate from the map provided by Google as his colleagues have suggested a better route. Do you agree or get […]
Are Blinkit & Zomato driving us to desperation - Paul Writer
I found the interactive print ad announcing the launch of Flipkart Minutes charming. Something the family could do together as the ad worked twice! You can see the wipe-to-reveal ad here. Great targeting as not just adults but no-phone kids also want everything “right now”. You may remember that I sashayed out to the Durga Puja Pandals […]
Elon vs Dee, let's eat strawberries - Paul Writer
The teen cast an eye at Buckingham Palace as she and I drove in a modern Black Cab (so awesome!) to the Taj St James Court in London. She couldn’t believe someone rich would want to live in that giant old place. I grew up oohing and aahing over Princess Diana, so this was a […]
My Blinkit Sari & A Happy Puja - Paul Writer
I am back from celebrating Durga Puja in Kolkata – now billed as the world’s largest global public art festival. What’s a girl to do when she sighs that she has nothing appropriate to wear? She of course buys a traditional Bengali sari on Blinkit for Rs 600 ($10), gets it home delivered in 10 […]
Welcome to the Rat Park, er, Dreamforce! - Paul Writer
You’re not a rat if you went to Dreamforce. It’s the sort of thing I might do myself. I moderated a couple of sessions at the recent ETNow Femtech Awards (a great summary here by Nithya Krishnan) and the energy I derived from in person interactions with all these marvellous people is amazing! The serendipity, fun and […]
Of Christmas Cakes and Tupperware - Paul Writer
The annual Christmas cake, precious with fine sugar carefully saved through the year, would be baked a few days before and the cake carefully cooled, sliced and packed into a giant white Tupperware box. Our trust in that airtight seal was that the cake would stay safe until after midnight on Christmas Eve when it […]
CMO should be the Apple of Your Eye: Ask me if they aren't - Paul Writer
Way back in 2007 I brought back an iPhone – the one and only at that time! – from New York to Bangalore for my husband. It was then – as now – a hugely hyped product. It is pretty amazing that 17 years later people still eagerly await the launch of a new Apple […]
Have a Brat Summer and What Jhumka - Paul Writer
“Kamala IS Brat”, a tweet by Charli XCX, was embraced by Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign team as a valuable endorsement. I’d be surprised if Ms Harris had heard of the album or the artist or her millions of fans called “Angels”. Luckily her marketing team did and moved quickly to celebrate the tweet by changing their banner to […]
Lampshade Women & Can Marketers Change the World - Paul Writer
Palo Alto Networks has apologized for using women as literal lamps at a conference. The fact that it happened and noone spoke up at the time is a sign of the systematic objectification of women that we don’t even notice. It makes us uncomfortable but hard to fight it as it is in the grey areas […]
Kalki & Childish Gambino - Brands & Blockbusters - Paul Writer
I know, I know, I’m the frugal marketer. Why are we discussing blockbusters? I’ll connect it up, promise. First, I wanted to let y’all know that I am doing a program on coaching. It’s something that people over the years have told me I’d be good at, so I decided to explore. I love learning […]
50 Snack Boxes’ packed and delivered in 30 Days - Paul Writer
About the Client Client: Microsoft India Project Duration:1 Year (2021-22)Campaign: Weekly LinkedIn Posts The Challenge Microsoft India had accumulated an extensive repository of client success stories demonstrating how various companies, ranging from large enterprises to small-scale businesses, achieved significant results using Microsoft products, tools, and solutions. However, these detailed case studies were underutilized by the […]
Enhancing the case study format for social media presence - Paul Writer
About the Client Client: Microsoft India Project Duration:1 Year (2021-22)Campaign: Weekly LinkedIn Posts Challenge Following the success of creating 50 visually appealing and easily amplifiable short-format content assets for Microsoft India’s customer success stories, Paul Writer was tasked with an even more challenging project. The goal was to create shorter social media posts that encapsulated […]
Maslow and Zuck's Beer Swigging Cows - Paul Writer
A weekend visit to Russell Market for fresh fruits, vegetables and dry fruits was a regular ritual for many years for the whole family. We got invited to a family wedding by the owner of the dry fruits stall. My in-laws were a bit sceptical because they wanted vegetarian fare while I was excited by […]
Anant & Radhika OTS is TMI - Paul Writer
If I see the words “impeccably dressed” and “limited edition” or hideous pink bling clothes in the context of a wedding again I shall scream! It has been impossible to escape – whether it is Facebook or NYT or ET or X. An Opportunity To See (OTS) of 3 within a reasonable span of time, is considered sufficient […]
Gone With the Wind Got Me My First Job - Paul Writer
I have to confess that my engineering grades were not great. Luckily companies like Tata Elxsi used an entrance test as a qualifier, and I love those kind of tests! The HR folks were a bit disappointed to discover that their entrance test scores were inversely correlated to engineering grades 🙂 They then decided to […]
Marketing without a budget. How any brand can compete and win! - Paul Writer
Here’s a sneak peek of the magic we unleashed: Jessie shared her expertise on stretching marketing budgets and avoiding costly ad campaigns. We explored practical strategies to make your business heard in a crowded marketplace without breaking the bank. Using Jessie’s repeatable framework, we learned how brands like Zara, Zoom, and Canva grew without relying […]