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The Branded and Gilded Life

Connecting the not-so-obvious branding dots

Marketing is a never-ending set of experiments to understand human behavior. It"s still opaque even after billions are spent every year. Predicting human behavior is like the horizon - visible yet hard to reach ideascape.substack.com

business marketing

All Episodes

6:22

That's not a rock. It's a soldier.

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2023/01/29

Camouflage has moved to the next level.Israel has developed material that looks like the rest of the landscape - a collection of unevenly distributed rocks, for example.In the photograph, they had to indicate there were soldiers below those 'rocks' waiting in complete readiness.Camouflage patterns have taken over as fashion statements - with the mottled and distinctive designs that signify 'military' gear.The actual requirement goes much deeper - because heat-seeking devices could pick out hidden

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6:10

The 'ugly vegetable' jackpot

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2023/01/22

Here's a sense of how beauty defines every aspect of our lives.Nature is not out to win any contests.But our notion of beauty, even with respect to vegetables, creates unnecessary waste in food chains.Blemish-free extends to vegetables as well in the US. So potatoes, tomatoes, onions and all types of vegetables are picked out of wholesale piles and only the ones that meet display standards are put up for sale.What happens to the rest? They are labeled as 'ugly' vegetables and even though they are

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5:58

Grandpa's razor sets are making a comeback

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2023/01/15

Life's come full circle.Henson's, a Canadian brand, is advertising a set of razors with the smoothest shave ever.And they look exactly like the ones that went out of style generations ago.They work with old-fashioned double-sided blades.But how do you sell them in a world where Gillette lines up four and six blades in a row for smoother shaves?You go back to the basics.Open up the top layer. Slip in the blades that have almost disappeared from stores today.And apparently, they've worked on the

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6:10

The men who zipped up the internet

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2023/01/08

Why would the internet need zipping?Well, let’s take documents, images, music and movies.Each of them is encoded in different formats. And the higher the file resolution, the bigger the file size.To send them across the net, especially when bandwidth was nowhere near the capacities we have today, there was only one way to do it.Lossless compression.Thank Jacob Ziv. Born in 1931 in what would become a part of Israel.His Ph.D. research at Cambridge University in 1960 involved finding a method to

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5:40

Can music put out fires?

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2023/01/01

It's the stuff of legends and one man seemed to make it work.Charles Kellogg (no relation to the cereal brand) made music of a different sort.He held public performances that riveted audiences in the early 20th century.They were largely imitations of nature and bird calls, which Kellogg had learned during his childhood, spending long stretches of time in the forest.He claimed he could even attract bears to concerts in the wild with his abilities.One of the highlights of his shows was to put out

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5:30

Making history is lonely

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/12/25

To change the world, you first have to go up against it.Even today, nothing has changed.Marie Curie discovered radioactivity along with her husband.Her remains are still radioactive almost a century later, after her death in 1934.So is the lab where she worked.She may be feted by academia and industry on the unique path she blazed.But there were no crowds to cheer her on and encourage her to keep working.Athletes and sportspersons are probably the only ones who make history in public.But the years

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5:21

How fast can a person be tied up?

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/12/18

It's not part of a common skill set.But cops have to restrain unruly people as part of their job.In India, cops rely on their ability to surprise and their ingenuity. Or strength in numbers.In the US, the favored weapon is a taser to immobilise people temporarily.However, it is highly painful and a traumatic experience for the victim.Medical workers or those trying to secure violent patients have few other options.There's an interesting device that shoots out a rope.And it binds itself around the

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6:22

Have we entered the era of trivial trends?

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/12/11

In breathless prose, we're told what to expect at next year's fashion ramps.The device that will dominate world marketsOr what the world has just discovered.That's why this video is puzzling.It appears on BBC, so you think it's gone through some standard checks.The headline says "Why a Dutch wellness trend is taking over the world'We're treated to a scenic view of cows ruminating in a idyllic landscape.Close up shots of the cow's nose almost touching the camera.And then, the great reveal about 20

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6:00

Is lithium the next oil?

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/12/04

Ford said all its cars would go electric by 2035.They've already launched an all-electric version of their largest selling truck, the F-150 recently.And in weeks, it got orders of over 50,000.If all manufacturers decide to switch to electric vehicles, lithium will be the next oil.Current estimates are that supplies will last until 2080.But that doesn't mean that the price of lithium will not climb steeply in the years to come.Chile, Australia, Argentina, China, US - these are the countries with the

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6:44

The 24/7 therapist

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/11/27

The site advertises itself as the 4 am friend.And during the pandemic that stretched on for more than two years, managing mental health has become a challenge.There are taboos around seeking professional help.And for counseling to work, a bond of trust has to be built.Wysa is an Indian startup looking to solve truly difficult problems.But loneliness and depression tackled by talking to a program?In some ways, it's dystopian. Have we come to this that people have to seek out a chatbot?Don't they have

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6:14

The awkward silences

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/11/20

Conversations between people meeting for the first time rarely gets off to a smooth start.There is no formula.Sometimes, you laugh too loudly at feeble jokes.And search desperately for the next topic to bring up.The use of the word 'awkward' by either one, in some ways, heightens the tension.As if an acknowledgement makes escape harder.If we accept there will be gaps in the conversation, the spikes of anxiety could be modulated.The context literally defines what happens next.The Indian 'arranged

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6:10

The robot that paints nails

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/11/13

It had to happen.From the automated Roomba that cleans floors and sold like vada pau during the pandemic, robots are chipping away at tasks one at a time.At the high end, they're assembling cars and managing warehouses.So, what's a robot doing painting nails?It's quite a clever repurposing of the ink-jet printer.Or at least that's the way it looks.You place your fingers, one at a time and the jet sprays the preferred shade of nail polish in a matter of minutes.The way they describe it is - No slip

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5:27

Will we ever get flat air-conditioners?

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/11/06

The first flat screen televisions were invented as far back as 1964.Remember those huge boxy TVs that took up spaces in living rooms? They are now history.It took decades before they were available at rates that everyone could afford.But air-conditioners are another matter altogether.They've moved from window to 'split'. And stayed there for ages.Progress has been slow. The prices have stayed high even while power consumption dropped.But if air-conditioners have to become as common as fans, they

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5:53

How was your first Google Maps experience?

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/10/30

In India, you're so used to asking for directions from people, Maps seemed unnecessary.And in all the years I've driven to places, there was always the auto stand, the corner store or helpful pedestrians.It's hard to find roads without people in India. There's someone to show you the way and sometimes, they'll go out of their way to help.The directions may be confusing and imprecise but well-intentioned.People want to be helpful even when they don't have a clue.My first experience of using Maps was

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6:00

How good is your memory?

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/10/23

No one has to remember phone numbers anymore.But retaining memories is a good way to build associations and ideas in the mind.Apart from purely practical uses.Passwords, for instance. Or where the important papers in the house are.It's also a good indication of mental acuity. A tendency to forget common things is a sign of both age and slowing faculties.We're also discovering that the ancients had much better memory techniques than what we have today.One of the popular methods is the 'memory palace'

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5:53

The vegetarian firefighters

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/10/16

It's no bull. They're bison.They don't need expensive firefighting equipment or gear.And they possibly provide the best protection against natural wildfires.As long as they are allowed to roam the land and eat.Not exactly social animals.But they have appetites that seriously threaten some 'eating contest' winners.Up to 35 kilos of vegetation in a single day.Anyone who says vegetarians are weaklings hasn't looked a bison in the eye.These animals are messy eaters, so they trample grasses and create

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5:50

It's not ice cream. It's a vaccine.

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/10/09

Cold chains in India have many gaps.It's not easy to store things at a constant temperature, given how erratic electric supply is in certain parts of the country.Especially in places where infrastructure is still basic.If it's ice cream, the worst that can happen is that a batch will melt and go bad.For vaccines, the tolerance is far lower - and they are no longer effective if they have been kept out longer than the recommended period.While ice and insulated packs have been the norm, an Indian

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5:53

Should cities stay 'dumb'?

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/10/02

Smart cities are all the rage.For good reason. They are supposed to be the next big thing.Driving higher efficiencies and generating large amounts of data for analysis.We've seen that traffic, health and infrastructure planning helps to map out the ways in which cities should be developed.Tech companies have also been advocates for the establishment of smart cities.But cyber security experts are now lining up against making cities 'smart' in all respects.They fear the risks of a cyber-attack

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6:01

How haircuts work

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/09/25

When banks have them, it means they've lost a substantial amount of money.When a family sports the tonsured head, they've gifted hair to the lord.Actors and actresses have 'looks' in hit films that define trends for years.The 'Sadhana' cut, with an even set of strands covering the forehead was the rage in the 60s' in Hindi movies. Now, social media makes the rules.The 'Bob Cut' invented by Vidal Sassoon gave women not just short hair but a look that defined a generation.Yul Brynner was the first to

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5:19

Apple just Air Tagged you

The Branded and Gilded Life ·

2022/09/18

It was a simple launch from Apple.But there are several theories circulating around it already.Air tags currently have one function. To locate missing things.Attach them to any object and you won't lose themIt's a beacon that radiates and lets you know exactly where they are.So, if it's under a cushion, left on the backseat of a car or well just about anywhere, it's supposed to help you find everything from car keys to purses. The theory is that Air Tags will be the essential point for AR

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