Coconut water - The amazing super food

I've been on a health trip lately – trying out various probiotic, organic, green what have you products. Been reading about how alkalinity in your body is a sure shot way of keeping many of today's deadly diseases and conditions at bay.

So, here's to the cheapest, most organic, most common super food of all – coconut water. It's a refreshing drink – it's alkaline (and that's good for you) and it's packed with a huge arrray of health benefits. Thirsty? Don't reach for a soda or a Pocari Sweat just yet. Water's good. Coconut water is great. By the way, a fresh green coconut at a local Dubai grocery store will cost anywhere between AED 4 - 8. (Union Co-op Dhs 6 on average).

Coconut water contains a large amount of electrolyte – potassium, so it easily replenishes the electrolyte composition in body fluids. Drinking coconut water can also aid in losing weight as it is low in fat, cholesterol and chlorides. It reduces food cravings and keeps a person feeling full. It is excellent drink for diabetics as it is good in nutrients required by diabetics to keep their sugar levels in control.

Here are more benefits. With summer on in Dubai, we hardly drink enough water but lose fluids through sweating. This is not so good. But the risk of kidney stones is greatly reduced because of the presence of minerals, potassium and magnesium in coconut water. Green coconut water acts as a natural diuretic because it has properties that tend to increase urine production and flow. Urologists around the world recommend that kidney stone sufferers should drink coconut water every alternate day to gradually reduce their stone size for easy elimination.

In an article on zeenewsindia I read that coconut water is loaded with vital nutrients, and is a very good source of B-complex vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, pyridoxine, and folates. It is rich in amino acids, enzymes, dietary fiber, vitamin C and minerals such as potassium, magnesium and manganese .It is also very beneficial as it has anti viral and anti bacterial properties.

By the way, coconut water works wonders for your skin too. Researches show that coconut water have cytokinins which are beneficial for anti aging-effects. When applied to acne, spots, wrinkles, stretch marks, cellulite and eczema it clears up the skin giving you youthful looking smoother skin. It can be used as a light moisturizer if you have oily skin. In addition to the benefits to the skin it also helps in repairing and growth of nails and smooth hair.

Coconut water has high amounts of potassium so it reduces hypertension by promoting excretion of water out of the body.

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Multi Screen, Multi Device Marketing is helping TV becoming larger than life

The tv watching experience is getting richer, better because of online? Rather than killing off tv in the living room, digital channels are adding to it, and broadening the perspective.

Consumers in the Middle East today are increasingly using multiple screens and devices while consuming media. With the boom in high speed access and the popularity of both tablet and mobile, people today aren't just watching tv. It's a combination of lean back (tv) and lean forward (tablet, mobile, laptop) in the living rooms of our region.

Multi screen marketing isn't new. But it's developing into a huge, synergistic platform where not only the message across what you watch on tv syncs with what's on your website, it does so at the same time, and with planned, timed and well-executed intent. We've always put an URL at the end of the tv spot, but now we're beginning to put in a Facebook address, and more often a Twitter hashtag. The twitter hashtag is to encourage immediate participation in sharing, in dialog, in comment fishing and more. In the UK, almost 70% of brands reviewed in a survey encouraged multi-device participation. And here in the MENA region,we are seeing the beginnings of it. 

Twitter themselves commented in January 2013 Twitter and advertising report which stated, "simply adding hashtags on air - or in ads - helps organise and steer the conversation."

The Twitter report goes on to say, "in advertising, we're seeing that deeper integration of Twitter not only drives discovery and engagement but also drives increases in brand recall scores and other marketing goals." Twitter's increasing popularity and acceptance as a "code-sharing" medium with TV is linked to the open field nature of the microblog. It's so in the now and the instant. I watch a tv program, or a spot, and instantly am able to share my viewpoint using a hashtag (#) – and it's there for anyone to see. It's a bit more open than the Facebook walled garden where only my 'friends' can see what or react to my opinion. Red Bull in the UK did this very successfully with their #GivesYouWings campaign.

What's even more interesting is that in a multi-device, multi-screen scenario in the living room, consumers tend not to get up and walk out during a commercial break. They stay engaged and busy, and connected. This works particularly well in "native" or "content marketing" campaigns that tend to want to engage the viewer in every possible way.

Just adding a #Brandname at the end of your spot is not the way to go. The #whatever should be about the campaign, about the call to action, and about what you want the target audience to do. Using a slogan like Red Bull did in #GivesYouWings is the way to go. And multi-device or multi-screen marketing is not just for brands and products. This year's SuperBowl viewers generated 24.1M posts. During power outage, nearly 231,500 posts were generated per second, making it one of the most talked about moments during the game. The Grammys generated just over 14M tweets  (the equivalent of 67K per minute) during the broadcast.

TV as we know it, is quickly evolving and becoming a larger experience. With multiscreen video, sharing, tweeting, in-the-instance interacting tv is becoming infinitely richer, increasingly interactive and delivering deeper levels of engagement.

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The tremors in Dubai. Are we earthquake proof and evacuation ready?

Yesterday at 2.45 pm a strong 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Iran – the worst the quake fault riding nation has seen in 40 years. And we felt it across the UAE, and particularly here in Dubai. Our high rise office building – MCN Hive – had to be evacuated to follow safety procedures. But...

Do we really know how to "evacuate" a building here in Dubai? The climb down the stairs for us was scarily, painfully slow. The way blocked by facebooking-and-tweeting-on-their-iPhone divas who found the climb down in their Louboutins both hazardous and hilarious. There was no sense of emergency. Sure, there is usually no need to panic – which is the worst reaction – being calm is both important and Mad Men "cool". But, one does take off one's 6 inch heels, right?

Today's Facebook timeline is filled with funny posts on people's reaction to the quake. Dubai is a here and now city. Folks seem much more in a hurry to crash through a Tiesto concert gate than run for cover in a situation. That in itself is shocking. Perhaps a little bit more shocking even than the intensity of the quake waves when they reached Dubai. According to seismologists, it had watered down to about a 4.5. That for Dubai is probably just a Harlem Shake. And a bruised Louboutin heel or two.

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Seeing with Sound: How Listening is crucial in Business

When a business, a leader, a mentor isn't listening, it's difficult to fight corporate blindness. If you're corporate blind, or lacking in focus and vision, try listening. There's a wonderful story on 'echolcation' or seeing with sound as mastered by Daniel Kish, who founded World Access for the Blind – and I saw an immediate allegory and a lesson for us all in business...

The Weekend Review in Gulf News of April 5, 2013 did a great piece on Daniel Kish – who travels the world over working with the visually challenged. He guides them in developing "seeing" strengths through a technique that enables them to navigate using sound and to find the freedom to do  what they please. The story is amazing. Kish was born with a rare form of cancer that robbed him of his vision. But he developed his mastery of echolocation – a technique that's also used by bats and dolphins for navigation! Essentially, it's about using sounds instead of light.

It's an amazing feat for Kish who has helped thousands of blind folk function with freedom of choice – all by listening to sounds. What if there's something to learn from Kish and the art of echolocating in our world of business? How often we get blindsided by instinct, by judgement, by lack of vision (read, blindness) in our world of business, or even everyday living. What if, then, we could use 'sounds' or 'feedback' to improve our vision, to guide our line of sight, and help us focus better?

"Sound waves are similar to light waves that carry energy and are reflected off surfaces. When that energy returns to the observer, the brain captures the patterns of the reflected energy and is able to extract information about the physical surfaces (distance, location etc)" says Kish about his overcoming the challenge through echolocating. Imagine, if we kept our ears open, and listened. Listened to what others have to say, listened to their opinions, their feedback, their criticisms and their praise – wouldn't that really help us see the world around us better?

In some ways brands have been using this in social media – listening to the collective voices of the consumer, the customer, trying to understand the echoes, the chatter, the reflected sounds. If we apply this same science (or is it an art?) to our everyday business, our everyday lives, wouldn't that help us tremendously in understanding how we are being perceived, understood, interpreted and positioned?

If only we are willing to ask for feedback, to have our ears open, our auditory receptors on max, it would be such an immense improvement of our vision, our sight, our way of seeing the world around us. And what a wonderful world that would be.

You can look up more info on echolocation on the World Access for the Blind website...

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Brand Aid: bandages that don't stick?

After years, actually, decades of being a true and loyal (Johnson & Johnson) Band-Aid buyer, I bought a pack of 3M Nexcare bandages from my nearest supermarket. Guess what? They don't stick.

I've been to the Nexcare website, and the pack I purchased isn't even on the products page. Maybe, it's a grey market pack, pushed across some unknown border by bandage smugglers? Maybe it's one where the 3M factory accidentally used the same adhesive they use on the yellow stickies – meaning, meant to come off?

This isn't just a complaining, whining kind of post. It's a bit of brand-aid for Johnson and Johnson as well. You see, up at my closest supermarket they follow a rather creative form of product distribution for the aisles. You'll find sweet potatoes in fruits. Shampoos with laundry detergents. And chocolates with cola. But that's no reason why the brand managers, the distribution guys cannot voice to the store guys where and when they feature and shelf their products. In the tiny medications part of the soap aisle, I found only Nexcare. So, where were the Band-Aid packs? In hair-care? With shopper-marketing becoming such an important part of the brand experience these days, this is a bit of a #fail.

Being in a hurry, I picked up a pack of 50, simple one size Nexcare 3M bandages. Because I could not locate the Band-Aid bandages. And now, I'm stuck (well, NOT actually), with a pack I do not want. The store won't take it back because I opened the pack. Customer satisfaction is not one of their strengths. And I am afraid to put a couple of these in my son's school bag in case of an emergency scrape, because, I know, they'll come off.

So, now I'll just use these Nexcare ones as wounded reminder notes on my To Do notes or Pay Bills papers. And go out and get a pack of real bandages. Ones that stick. Ones that my mom trusted and I grew up with.

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An officer and a gentleman in today's Mad Men world

It's not impossible, but it is difficult to find a gentleman in today's world of Mad Men – our world of advertising, media and communications. It's a man-eat-dog-eat-dog world, and a constant elevator up and down the food chain. A revolving door where today's ad man needs to come out in front of you even if he was behind you when you got in.

An officer? A guy who leads from the front? Takes the bullet? Calls the medics and stays with you? One who greets the day early, surveying the day ahead. Making sure the platoons are ready to roll. And that the men are fed, their stomachs full of fuel, their minds alert, and their spirits enthused and energized. A mentor, a general, but then, a soldier first.

My hats off to the guy, who stands up when you enter his office – regardless whether you are man or woman ( but particularly if you are a woman). And greets you honestly, shakes your hand, makes you feel you are welcome.

One who always holds the car door open, asks you which floor you need to have the button pressed for in a lift, and remembers your name. Every time.

One who unashamedly is a doting father – and who takes a day off to fish, surf, go wadi-bashing, whatever with his son. And one who celebrates the arrival of a new baby with more than just a facebook post and a "status update" – the joy on face so meaningful. So reflective of that wonderful (now on pinterest) quote from the Nobel laureate Tagore "Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man..."

One who is equally at ease with the younger  and the elder – nurturing both – one with compassion, care and concern when needed,  the other with respect and appreciation of experience.

One who is original without being obnoxious, true without being tyrannical, and principled without being paranoid.

The other bits of leadership in our world of advertising (or is it 'humankind' now?) are a given. You know, about being a good presenter, a pitch winner, a people person, a creative strategist, a business man,  every day resumé stuff. These are must-haves. It's the bit about being a well-mannered, thoughtful, compassionate and understanding human being that makes all the difference.

Sasan Saeidi, managing director at FP7, UAE... take a bow.

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8 Things Today's Mad Men are getting wrong at Advertising Agencies

So what are today’s advertising agencies getting wrong? What are today’s Mad Men doing that drive ad people crazy?

Autocratic top management seems to go all wrong these days. The my-way-or-highway management style seems to be a big beef around agencies. Agency folks do not like being told what to do without being told why. They don’t have a problem in processing ‘orders’ but they like to see the logic, the reason, the goal.

Long briefs. An ex-colleague at McCann Worldgroup used to say that a brief should always fit into an A4 size sheet. Brevity, precision, and the ability to summarize were his keys. A lot of suits in charge of writing up a brief (are planners suits?) forget that and end up with reams of trees chopped down unkindly, thoughtlessly. Briefs should be just that – brief. Long briefs drive us nuts.

Recognition, rather the lack of it. Far too often, we get recognition and a pat on the back around the water cooler, but not from the ivory tower. Peer acknowledgement and recognition is great, but coming from the top always has it’s extra shine.

Responsibility without authority is another sore point. How often do we delegate or share responsibilities without properly equipping and empowering the team?

Digital as add on. Top brass recognizing that digital is a must-have often results in digital being an add-on – the last few slides in a pitch show, the requisite nod, but without the right impetus. This always rattles the teams – who probably know the power of digital. It bemuses the clients who can see through the facade. We need to accept that today digital is mainstream. Or die trying. Or get buried.

Habitual weekend workdays. When today’s leading companies are making work a fun place to be, the forced and habitual weekend work schedule is seen as an infringement. Ad people need to re-fill and refresh. Otherwise their ideas get stale. Management who feel that their staff owe it to them to show up every weekend are getting it wrong. Horribly wrong. The odd crazy 48-hour shift is a given in our industry. But making a habit out of it? Not.

Not updating hardware and software. This is really silly, because older legacy systems are a drag on efficiencies. Updates are usually better, faster, have bugs fixed and in general safe time, effort and money. Agency management often just perseveres (actually they don’t, the little folk do) with the ‘what-we-have’ rather than the ‘best-to-get’. In a previous incarnation while in Canada, we proved to our CEO that upgrading hardware would result in 40% better efficiency. The beauty was the fact that the costs of the investment were recovered in less than 60 days in better output efficiencies and quicker turnaround times.

Lack of Training and Development = Lack of Growth. Old adage says – If your people don’t grow your company doesn’t grow. Even in an environment where constantly updated knowledge is the currency, some agencies don’t bother about providing ample training and development initiatives. This results in staff who are not comfortably conversant in front of clients, and who are behind the times. They are unable to drive the agency forward because they have no fuel. This is a no-brainer, really.

My post today is inspired by an article in Ad Age (What Drives Ad-Agency CEOs Crazy by Phil Johnson, March 1, 2013). The piece is a reality check, and a well put-together list of what’s on a “Not-to-Do-List” at Mad Men world these days according to top CEOs.

Johnson writes “It drives me crazy to see anyone waiting in the lobby for more than two or three minutes. Of course, that seldom happens to clients, but I don't like to see it happen to partners, salespeople or job applicants. In my world, we're all VIPs.

The lowest form of agency behavior is when someone puts on his best performance for the boss and treats everyone else like crap. It's called managing up, and it shouldn't be tolerated.”

Here are some other classic peeves by CEOs from the Ad Age article…

Phil Waggoner, is a partner at Hook in Charleston, S.C., an Ad Age Small Agency of the Year. What makes him crazy:

"It makes me nuts that it makes no difference how early we start working on a new-business RFP. We always, always, deliver it at the very last minute and sometimes even after the last minute. And nine times out of 10 we are adjusting the presentation deck on the way to the presentation."

Tom Stein, CEO of Stein & Partners in New York, and a 2012 BtoB Agency of the Year, offers a complete litany of pet peeves:

Seeking safety vs. striving for greatness.

Not following process.

Mindlessly following process.

Briefs that aren't brief.

People who can't find the time, heart or humanity to say "nice work."

Lack of humor and perspective….

Avoiding the above probably led Stein’s agency to top rank in Ad Age’s B2B Agency List. More power to Stein. And other Mad Men who get it right.

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