Here are some beautiful writings I read a couple of days ago on Universal Consciousness or the Universal Truth.
Love that one who
when you shall cease to be
will not Himself cease to be
That you may become one
who will never cease to be
- By the Persian poet, Abu Said Ibn Abi al-Khair.
I also liked what the same poet has to say about seeking the Essence of understanding...
If you keep seeking the jewel of understanding,
then you are a mine of understanding in the making.
If you live to reach the Essence one day,
then your life itself is an expression of the Essence.
Know that in the final analysis
you are that which you search for.
The Upanishad too talks beautifully of Madhu-Vidya, or the knowledge of the interconnectedness of things...
Madhu-Vidyā is an insight into the nature of things, which reveals that there are no such things as subjects or objects. The fact of experience itself is a repudiation of the phenomenal notion that subjects are cut off from objects, as if the one has no connection with the other. If there has been a gulf of difference, unbridgeable, between the experiencing consciousness and the object outside, there would be no such thing as experience at all. The great revelation of the sage Dadhyaṅṅ Ātharvaṇa is that the Adhyātma (everything that is inside) and the Adhibhūta (everything that is outside in the world) are linked together by the Adhidaiva (everything that is transcendent), and a transcendent Divine Presence connects the phenomenal subject and the phenomenal object, through an invisible force, so that we have a universe of interrelated particulars, one entering the other, one merging into the other, one coalescing with the other like the waves in the ocean, and not the universe we see with our eyes, as a house divided against itself.
As all the spokes
are held together in the hub of a wheel
Just so in this soul
all things, all Gods,
all worlds, all breathing things
all selves
are held together
- From the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Principles for Product Marketing
Inspired by these Principles to Design by, I thought I will put down my Principles for Product Marketing, an area I've been working on and studying for some years. It goes without saying that these are entirely my personal views.
Marketing Serves Target Customers.
It is important to be clear about Who are your target customers, What do they need, How does your product add value to them and How are you different from anyone else. Understand also if your market is a one-size-fits-all market (is there any such thing), or how you can segment your market or if you are catering to the “long tail” of customers. Marketing is about aiming your product and your message for your targeted customers. The channel / mode for putting the message across will flow from that - be innovative in the usage of channels.
Marketing is about Simplifying.
There is a danger for functionally / technologically ‘rich’ products to fall into the “Products that do too much” trap. This means that instead of attracting customers we could actually end up putting off customers by creating a perception of our products as either “too complex for our needs” or too “ahead of our time”. It does not help to boast about your product capabilities if these are features that are not important to your customers. The lesser the better works best for your marketing message.
Great Marketing reflects Great Personality.
Marketing is not restricted to the looks of the product or the advertising or the PR. The creation and maintenance of a brand through marketing runs deep and wide. It covers the complete experience that users or customers have through different interactions with the organization, its people, its products and its service. Also, just like with individuals with great personality, core values go a long way in establishing the brand personality and in winning customer stickiness. Have you figured out the core values for your product / organization?
Marketing Changes with the Times.
Does this sound contradictory to the above principle, you may ask…for instance, how can core values change? The answer lies in the fact that just as the individual grows best with a “growth mind-set” rather than a “fixed mind-set”, the essence of product marketing is to ensure that the products you are offering are in tune with the market and competitive landscape. Ask yourself if it is time to go back to the first principle.
Marketing cannot be done for Vapour.
This can always be a tough one for marketers. I refer here to marketing of initiatives (product / organization-wide) that have no basis at all other than as a vague idea in someone’s fertile imagination. The best way is to dig deeper to find out as much information about the initiative – why is this being rolled out (is it just a fad), who will this benefit, what are the timelines for roll-out, for upgrade-like initiatives – what is the plan to ease customers into the new. Take up the marketing for something only if and when you are convinced about it yourself.
Marketing Serves Target Customers.
It is important to be clear about Who are your target customers, What do they need, How does your product add value to them and How are you different from anyone else. Understand also if your market is a one-size-fits-all market (is there any such thing), or how you can segment your market or if you are catering to the “long tail” of customers. Marketing is about aiming your product and your message for your targeted customers. The channel / mode for putting the message across will flow from that - be innovative in the usage of channels.
Marketing is about Simplifying.
There is a danger for functionally / technologically ‘rich’ products to fall into the “Products that do too much” trap. This means that instead of attracting customers we could actually end up putting off customers by creating a perception of our products as either “too complex for our needs” or too “ahead of our time”. It does not help to boast about your product capabilities if these are features that are not important to your customers. The lesser the better works best for your marketing message.
Great Marketing reflects Great Personality.
Marketing is not restricted to the looks of the product or the advertising or the PR. The creation and maintenance of a brand through marketing runs deep and wide. It covers the complete experience that users or customers have through different interactions with the organization, its people, its products and its service. Also, just like with individuals with great personality, core values go a long way in establishing the brand personality and in winning customer stickiness. Have you figured out the core values for your product / organization?
Marketing Changes with the Times.
Does this sound contradictory to the above principle, you may ask…for instance, how can core values change? The answer lies in the fact that just as the individual grows best with a “growth mind-set” rather than a “fixed mind-set”, the essence of product marketing is to ensure that the products you are offering are in tune with the market and competitive landscape. Ask yourself if it is time to go back to the first principle.
Marketing cannot be done for Vapour.
This can always be a tough one for marketers. I refer here to marketing of initiatives (product / organization-wide) that have no basis at all other than as a vague idea in someone’s fertile imagination. The best way is to dig deeper to find out as much information about the initiative – why is this being rolled out (is it just a fad), who will this benefit, what are the timelines for roll-out, for upgrade-like initiatives – what is the plan to ease customers into the new. Take up the marketing for something only if and when you are convinced about it yourself.
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