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  • MxM Buzzer # 2 | The Olympics Special

    Here’s the second instalment of our near-new media quiz that will happen every Friday on MxMIndia.

    Our quizmaster is Sorbojeet Chatterjee, Vice President – Marketing at Neo Sports.

    To enter this quiz, simply email the answers with your personal details (Name, email id and telephone number) and a one-word descriptor for Goafest at editor@mxmindia.comwith Buzzer#2 in the subject. Standard contest rules apply (see box below).

    There will be 2 prizes every week: First Prize: Rs 1001, Second Prize: Rs 501.

    If there’s a tie, the best descriptor for Goafest will get the prize (note: tie-breaker question will change every week).
    Last date for sending entries: Wednesday, August 1.

     

     

  • Do consumers get influenced by names like 'Munich Polo' and 'Franco Leone' for locally made products?

    Do ‘phoren’ names work for Made-in-India brands?

    Pick the odd one out: Zara, Tommy  Hilfiger, Munich Polo, Skechers and Pavers. Answer: Munich Polo. Reason: It’s the only Indian brand amongst the lot of global labels

     

    As the rush of single brands into the country-including those that have applied for approvals-peaks, a number of home-grown, international sounding brands are melding themselves into the retailing landscape.

     

    “The trend will gather momentum,” says Piyush Kumar Sinha, professor in retailing and marketing at IIM, Ahmedabad. Indian brands will try to look and sound foreign to make the most of rising aspirations of foreign-label fascinated Indians, he adds.

     

    Munich Polo, which has positioned itself as a German brand and recently rolled out its premium kidswear stores in New Delhi, is the latest addition to the serpentine list of home-grown brands flaunting foreign tags. This include Da Milano, Franco Leone, La Opala and Monte Carlo.

     

    Munich Polo uses the German language and depicts Munich’s rich cultural history on its website. It draws inspiration from Munich’s heritage for its apparel designs, and uses fair-skinned child models to give the brand a German look and feel. When contacted, a Munich Polo spokesperson did not comment on why the brand has appropriated a German name and positioning.

     

    Another local brand Da Milano, a high-end leather accessory label, is widely perceived to be of Italian origin. Company officials refused to comment on the brand’s local origin.

     

    Franco Leone, a Delhi-based premium footwear brand, has an explanation for its Italian-sounding name. “My father bought the brand from two Italian designers called Franco and Leone,” says Vikram Bhamri, director of Franco Leone.

     

    But why did the brand continue to use a foreign name in India? Simple, it makes immense business sense. “It has to do with the Indian mindset. We love and easily accept European and American fashion because it is aspirational,” adds Mr Bhamri, who roped in Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor as brand ambassador last year.

     

    Mr Bhamri himself is one such consumer who would prefer a foreign brand over an Indian one. “Despite the high quality of Liberty (Shoes), I would still prefer Lee Cooper because of its foreign tag,” he shrugs.

     

    For Monte Carlo, a 26-year-old woollen wear brand from the Ludhiana-based Nahar Group, having a foreign name does have some advantages, but it has to be reinforced by quality of the product. “The name is built by customers, not by brands,” says Sandeep Jain, executive director of Monte Carlo Fashions, which was hived off from Oswal Woollen Mills of the Nahar Group last year. 100% foreign direct investment for single brands will only help raise awareness of their local counterparts, he argues.

     

    Veteran adman Piyush Pandey thinks a foreign brand can be a double-edged sword. If it doesn’t deliver its promise, it is doomed to bomb. “Consumers are not stupid, says the executive chairman & creative director of Ogilvy South Asia. “You can fool them once, but not twice. If you claim to be an Italian brand, then you have to deliver Italian quality. If you don’t, people won’t buy it.”

     

    Mr Pandey turns the trend of foreign-sounding desi brands on its head by pointing to international brands with Indian names. Like French jewellery house Boucheron that has a perfume exotically branded Jaipur. “Now, calling it Jaipur doesn’t make it an Indian brand, does it,” asks Mr Pandey.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

     

  • Continuing with the internationally adapted concept of 'Dirt is good', Lowe lintas has devised another campaign for Surf Excel

    Lowe Lintas unveils new Surf Excel campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Detergent powder brand, Surf Excel, has historically stayed away from making laundry problems and solutions the hero of its communication. This started in 2005, when Surf Excel launched the unique concept of “dirt is good” in India with the iconic puddle war ad. And every year since, Surf Excel has come up with commercials propagating this brand philosophy – whether it is to make a little sister smile, or stop a raging fight between adults, or being a bigger person and forgiving friends. Surf Excel repeatedly demonstrates to mothers that children experience and learn about life through dirt.

     

    The new commercial conceptualized by Lowe Lintas and Partners is set in the context that kids today are exposed to lots of violence and anger and grow up believing that this is the way of life. With this commercial, Surf Excel demonstrates the value of “baddappan” and how a situation can be turned around without any negative overtones by a child who thinks and behaves differently

     

    We see a team of young kids engrossed in their post-school cricket match, when a team of seniors enters the pitch and bullies these kids to abandon the ground in the middle of their session. While a heated brawl is underway between the bowler and the senior, a member of the younger team calmly walks up to the two of them and attempts resolving with reason. On being met with a violent response, the kid then takes adopts a unique path – he cheekily offers to make peace with the elders by offering them a muddy hug!

     

    Since most of us may have been in a similar scenario of bullying at some point in our lives, this ad leaves us with the good feeling that not always do we need to resort to violence. The ad in its own tongue-in-cheek way communicates the good of being the bigger person in a situation.

     

    CREDITS

    Creative: Arun Iyer, Ramkrishna Gopi Yadav, AP Zeth, Aarti Srinivasan, Sushant Joshi

    Business: Virat Tandon, Tarannum Romani, Suchana Sarkar, Haripriya Mishra

    Planning: Saji Abraham, Mani KB

    Films: Riddhi Mehta

    Production House: Footcandles Films

    Director: Vinil Math

     

  • The primary objective was to design a policy ecosystem in which new ideas would be integrated into the mainstream and get converted into policy initiatives by the government

    MIB looks ahead as Sectoral Innovation Council recommends embracing tech & new media

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Sectoral Innovation Council of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, under the Chairpersonship of Ms Asha Swarup, Retd Secretary, Government of India, on July 26 submitted its report to Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Ms Ambika Soni.  The primary objective was to design a policy ecosystem in which new ideas would be integrated into the mainstream and get converted into policy initiatives by the government.

     

    Ms Soni said that the issues deliberated upon by the Council would be looked into by the Ministry in the policy domain. The recommendations made by the Council in different Media and Entertainment sectors would act as a roadmap in the future. The Council, in its report, analysed the growth potential of the media & entertainment industry by recommending changes in critical areas such as broadcasting, print media, animation, gaming and VFX, Media education and films.

     

    The Council has made 64 recommendations in seven areas concerning the media and entertainment sector. Some of the key recommendations are:

    1. A comprehensive policy media policy that integrates all existing media segments and addresses the emergent issues. The council has recommended bringing out a National Media Policy that addresses the new media landscape.

    2. The government may look into the existing licensing procedures and requirements to ensure further liberalization and reforms in the broadcasting sector.

    3. Content innovation is required in the radio segment which would be possible only if the government comes up with a separate licensing model for niche channels.

    4. Ministry of I&B, as the policy head of public service broadcasting and community radio service could come out with a formal arrangement by which CRS could provide community based programme content to AIR and AIR could provide capacity building and training to CRS workers in content creation, management and operation of stations.

    5. The process of digitalization in DD and AIR was likely to release airwaves which after due utilization in house could be used for creating a public service broadcasting fund in line with USO fund of telecom sector. This fund could be utilized exclusively for public service broadcasting.

    6. In view of the potential in the films sector, the Council has recommended a National Film Policy that will address the role of the government vis-à-vis the private sector.

    7. Film Institutes in the country may be upgraded to ‘Centres of Excellence’. In the long term, these Centres of Excellence could become part of a Central University of Films, Broadcasting and Animation by an appropriate legislation.

    8. The government must have a National Policy for Animation, Gaming and VFX.

    9. The government should go for co-production treaties in the animation sector to ensure flow of international projects toIndia. Ministry could also consider giving responsibility to the Children’s Film Society and Doordarshan to produce animated content and create Indian IP.

    10. Reliable Single Source Data on all mediums of advertising should be made available by the government so that advertisers are able to take decisions on reliable data.

    11. Government should interact with key stakeholders and expedite a consensus on developing an alternative to TAM so that an appropriate mechanism is developed with industry participation to study audience viewing and listening behaviour and bring out reports on weekly basis.

    12. Government should regulate media education to ensure orderly growth of the discipline as part of higher education.

    13. Like medical education and technical education, Media Education to be regulated by a new organisation known as Media Education Council. The Media Education Council should be assigned the task of setting up curriculum for all levels, so that standardised curriculum with national accreditation becomes a possibility.

    14. There is need to make IIMC, FTII and SRFTI into real centres of excellence.

    15. The government should reformat the course curriculum, improve faculty of the institutes. These institutions could either be separate universities or become a part of one central university.

    16. National Awards for Innovation in different segments of M&E Sector be instituted by the ministry.

    17. New Media should be utilized for media campaigns by the government.

    E-mode transactions should be a priority for the functions of DAVP, RNI, CBFC and licensing activities of the Government for ensuring transparency.

     

    The Sectoral Innovation Council was set up on July 28, 2011 as part of the Government of India’s initiative of declaring 2010- 2020 as the Decade of Innovation. Accordingly, the Government set up a National Innovation Council with Mr Sam Pitroda as Chairman and 16 distinguished members. The members of the I&B Sectoral Innovation Council comprised of Chairperson, Ms Asha Swarup, retired Secretary, Government of India and 10 other distinguished members from the field of media and entertainment.

     

  • Rohan Chandran jons Big FM as Station Head in BLR

    By A Correspondent

     

    Big FM has announced the appointment of Rohan Chandran as the station head for its Bangalore station. In his new role, Mr Chandran will report to Mr Ashwin Padmanabhan, Regional Head – North and South, Big FM and will primarily be responsible for the overall running of the Bangalore station along with revenue generation.

     

    Mr Padmanabhan said: “We are very excited to have Rohan on board who comes with a pedigree of success from his previous professional stints and has sharp insights on the consumers in Bangalore and South. We are confident that with Rohan at the helm, 92.7 Big FM will further cement its position as the leading media brand in Bangalore and Karnataka.”

     

    An engineer by education, Mr Chandran brings with him over nine years of experience. After his MBA from Management Development Institute in 2003, he joined Maruti Suzuki India, as the Territory Manager (Sales) for Kerala. In 2007, he moved to Reebok India where he was the Regional Manager-South for Sales and Retail operations.

     

    Mr Chandran said: “I am very positive about the opportunities which lie ahead of us. The team in Bangalore is young, dynamic and focused and we will together be able to further fortify the standing in the market. I look forward to working with 92.7 BIG FM in the next phase of my professional journey.”

     

     

  • Rajesh Mani comes on board as Executive Creative Director at Commonwealth Mumbai Hub

    Rajesh Mani joins Commonwealth as ECD

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rajesh Mani has come on board Commonwealth as Executive Creative Director at the Mumbai office. Mr Mani has moved to Commonwealth from Leo Burnett and has 12 years of experience in creating distinct and memorable work.

     

    He co-created, with Rajiv Rao, the hugely popular Blackberry Boys version 1 and also wrote the much loved song for Blackberry Boys. He has also done some acclaimed films like Hutch callertunes, Vodafone 60P/minute film and was also part of the core team that launched the Zoozoos. His other internationally acclaimed work was for the global launch of Lenovo X300 laptops with a film that was showcased during the Beijing Olympics titled ‘The Flying Sumos’.

     

    Mr Mani, or Mani as he likes to be called, said: “Leo Burnett was a leap of faith. At Ogilvy, I worked on one of the best brands in the country, Vodafone. Commonwealth offered an exciting prospect of working on one of the biggest car brands in the world at a global level and a rare opportunity to interact and imbibe from the best in the business – Prasoon Joshi, Jeff Goodby, Linus Karlsson and Washington Olivetto. On a global platform like Commonwealth, it is important to understand the finer points of cross-cultural communication challenges and pegging ideas on simple human truths that are geography agnostic.”

     

    Prasoon Joshi said: “Am really pleased that Rajesh Mani is a part of Commonwealth. He has tremendous experience and talent which will further strengthen the operation. I am positive that Rajesh will be instrumental in creating and delivering stellar quality work.”

     

    Commonwealth is a first-of-its-kind 50-50 joint venture, combining San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, an Omnicom Group company, and New York-based McCann Erickson Worldwide, an Interpublic Group company. In forming the joint venture, Commonwealth combines a wealth of creative talent, extensive global automotive experience and strategic business leadership that is unique in the industry.

     

     

  • The latest season of KBC is expected to commence by the end of August or beginning September with nearly 52 episodes and duration of 1.5 hours

    Sony rolls out 360-deg campaign for KBC’s Sept launch

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kaun Banega Crorepati is back, and with the tagline – ‘Sirf Gyaan Hi Aapko Aapka Haq Dilata Hai’. This year’s theme revolves around the power of knowledge. The campaign which has been conceptualized by Leo Burnett will have four TVCs, each of which have a different story to tell. Two of the commercials are already on air, the second TVC was aired on July 26, the third TVC will be aired by next week and the fourth TVC will be aired around August 10.

     

    This year’s campaign is said to be an extension of KBC’s previous two seasons, namely, ‘Koi Bhi Sawaal Chhota Nahi Hota’ and ‘Koi Bhi Insaan Chhota Nahin Hota’. The idea is about giving the audience a hope irrespective of their circumstances and the discrimination they faced, and that through KBC they will be able to get their due.

     

    A 360 degree campaign will be rolled out wherein nearly 40 per cent of the marketing budget would be skewed towards cinema and television; 30 per cent will be spent on Out-of-Home and Print campaigns and the remaining 30 per cent will be spent on Digital, Radio and other BTL activities.

     

    Following the television commercials, by mid-August, digital and other media campaigns will also be aired. The details of the campaigns were not known at the time of filing the report; however it is learnt that Sony wants to create a different user experience for the online users through its digital campaigns.

     

    While the execution of the digital campaign is said to be completely different from television commercials, the story and the theme of the campaign will continue to be the same across media vehicles. OOH campaign for KBC also promises to be highly innovative and engaging to the audience. WhileMedia Circleis the OOH creative agency, Leo Burnett is the creative agency and OMD is the media agency for Sony Entertainment Television.

     

    The latest season of KBC is expected to commence by the end of August or beginning September with nearly 52 episodes and duration of 1.5 hours. In addition to this, KBC 2012 is said to have witnessed a record 1.5 crore registration in the phase I of the campaign as compared to 46 lakh registrations last year. In fact, last season KBC is said to have received an average TVR of 4.8 per cent. Cadbury is the presenting sponsor of KBC 2012, powered by Idea.

     

    Danish Khan, Senior Vice President and Marketing Head, SET said: “This year’s KBC campaign celebrates the power of knowledge. Our brief to Leo Burnett was to bring this thought alive with real people in real context. The campaign’s philosophy is a common man’s philosophy and is relevant to today’sIndia. The campaign thought captures the value of the show. We aim to reach out to a larger set of audience and provide common man a unique chance to change his destiny.”

     

    Nitesh Tiwari, National Creative Resource, Leo Burnett, Mumbai said: “Having done two successful campaigns in the past – ‘Koi Bhi Sawaal Chhota Nahi Hota’ and ‘Koi Bhi Insaan Chhota Nahin Hota’, it wasn’t an easy task for me and my team to come up with something equally interesting, if not better.  The thought is delivered in its characteristic style, will pan out with four films each with a distinct story talking about the biases of gender, lineage and language, showcasing different characters and their situations in life that will engage, entertain and bring alive the core thought of this season.”

     

    Mr Anup Vishwanathan, Executive Vice President, Leo Burnett, Mumbai said: “The KBC campaign identifies with the hope that people have in them. And that’s the factor we wanted to leverage in our campaign. This also in sync with brand SET that is all about positive emotions.”

     

     

  • dgMatix's proprietary technology is capable of tracking click frauds, measuring campaign performance on various parameters

    DGM India launches dgMatix ad network

    By A Correspondent

     

    DGM India announced the launch of its premium brand ad network – dgMatix, which will utilize DGM’s proprietary technology to deliver impactful and transparent campaigns. dgMatix’s proprietary technology is capable of tracking click frauds, measuring campaign performance on various parameters like creative-wise performance, publisher-wise performance, and so on.

     

    Anurag Gupta, MD, DGM India said: “dgMatix Ad Platform is significantly different from the other platforms available in the Indian market for the advertisers. It uses proprietary JavaScript injection technology to put an ad on the publisher’s website without interfering with the existing ad units or existing design of the website. Additionally, there are no costs for publishers for serving dgMatix ads. The ad units created by dgMatix are additional high impact units on the publisher’s website that is interoperable with multiple platforms like Flash, HTML5. Our technology optimizes the publisher’s inventory and provides maximum eCPM and eCPC”.

     

    dgMatix’s proprietary technology is hosted on the cloud to generate faster response time. The ad server resides on Amazon and the delivery system works from Amazon Cloud Front which allows to automatically route end users to the closest available location, thus ensuring the fastest delivery of ads without any drop outs.

     

    dgMatix is capable of delivering high impact, disruptive units on identified websites along with detailed reporting including IP addresses. dgMatix offers two kinds of solutions to Brand advertisers: Impact & Reach.

     

    dgMatix delivers the following Impact solutions on identified selected tier 1 and tier 2 websites:

    • Brand Box: A high impact slider unit that can play rich media ads to static images. The slider unit delivers phenomenally high CTRs.
    • Brand Bar: dgMatix uses intelligent technology to serve ads in the margin/free space on the left & right side of the website content.
    • Brand Bang: dgMatix offers the highest impact ad options for advertisers viz. site captures/take-overs and high impact flash/HTML5 ad units.

     

    dgMatix delivers the following Reach solutions:

    • dgMatix has a reach of over 30 million Internet users on a monthly basis
    • The exclusive pricing strategy includes charging advertisers on authenticated & verified deliveries as per client’s analytics reports
    • The Pricing models include Cost per visitor, Cost per click, Cost per thousand impressions etc. Detailed during and post-campaign reporting, including IP addresses etc.

     

    DGM India works with over 15,000 websites across India and has delivered measurable results to over 300 blue-chip Indian brands over the past 5 years on a pay-for-performance basis.

     

     

  • Till now City Bhaskar inGujaratwas available with Divya Bhaskar in Ahmedabad only

    Divya Bhaskar launches City Bhaskar in Surat & Vadodara

    By A Correspondent

     

    City Bhaskar, the broadsheet magazine from Dainik Bhaskar Group addressing the youth segment with news and activities within city has now entered Suratand Vadodara. It addresses the need of positive content presenting the ‘Good Life of the City’ with special focus on city happenings and leisure reading. It provides for the positive outlook and in a way proves to be motivational and aspirational product.

     

    Till now City Bhaskar in Gujarat was available with Divya Bhaskar in Ahmedabad only. The need for such a product in Surat and Vadodara has been felt for some time.

     

    Speaking on the City Bhaskar launch in Surat and Vadodara, Saras Sethi, State Head Gujarat said: “Surat and Vadodara, with their own unique population mix, professional outlook and inclination were considered ripe for a product like City Bhaskar. It takes into account the city highlights, cultural and social milieu, the youth segment needs and is crafted specially for the city.”

     

    Divya Bhaskar, the Gujarati Newspaper of Dainik Bhaskar Group with 11.44 lakh readers (IRS Q1 2012) is the only Gujarati newspaper with more than a million readers in a city.

     

     

  • He will oversee the implementation of national marketing campaigns that will drive growth for the brand

    Calvin John joins CaratLane VP-Marketing

    By A Correspondent

     

    CaratLane.com, the online jewellery retailer has announced the appointment of Calvin John as Vice President – Marketing. Mr John will be responsible primarily for defining marketing strategy and positioning for CaratLane.com. He will oversee the implementation of national marketing campaigns that will drive growth for the brand.

     

    Mr John brings in international experience in consumer-driven sectors like food and beverage and lifestyle retail, having worked in the GCC, SAARC, ASEAN, and Indian markets, he has an in-depth understanding of what drives a customer to make that final purchase.

     

    Before joining CaratLane.com, Mr John worked with leading brands like Titan, UB Group, Hindustan Unilever and Bisleri.

     

    Commenting on his appointment, Mr John said: “I am very excited to join CaratLane.com as it brings clarity and information-driven empowerment to customers to help them make informed choices. This is crucial for a high-value industry like ours where customers, owing to lack of knowledge, are hesitant to go beyond their trusted family jeweller. The strategy going forward will be to increase the credibility and further establish the identity of CaratLane.com as India’s leading online jeweller.”

     

    Speaking on Mr John’s appointment, Mithun Sacheti, Founder and CEO of CaratLane.com said: “Calvin’s varied experience across different sectors will benefit CaratLane.com both from a category and function perspective. His understanding of the Indian jewellery market, coupled with his experience in setting up the entire e-commerce channel for a leading national brand gives him an ‘intra-preneurial’ perspective which is very important for a business model like ours. We are confident that he will take CaratLane.com to newer heights.”

     

     

  • Personally speaking, I am all ready for the future. I have decided to start a specialized scam ads shop. Which to me sounds like a really lucrative business

    Anil Thakraney: Page 3 versus Oprah

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Oprah Winfrey is a super talk show host. That is well known. We now also know that apna Aamirbhai is a huge fan of the lady, after he formatted his maiden TV show based on her work. All very fine and dandy. But we’ve just discovered another thing about Oprah that some hoity toity Indians are finding very hard to digest: Apparently, she thinks poorly of us Indians because we ‘still’ eat food with our hands. And the TV queen has made a video of her shock over our crazy dietary habits for the consumption of her local audiences inAmerica. And it’s mainly targeted at the Texan rangers, who must obviously be having a good gaff at our expense.

     

    I searched for the offending video on Youtube, and not surprisingly, they have been blocked for viewing in India. And that’s stupid, really. You can find the link through other websites. Oprah made this sensational comment when she sat down for a desi thali meal with a conservative Somani family from Mumbai. One can see in the video that the family is going out of its way to please the honourable guest.

     

    The result: All those Page 3 types who were falling over each other to get close to Oprah when she visited India in January this year, are busy spewing venom against her on TV talk shows. These are the same people who were excitedly tweeting their smiling thopdas in the company of the exalted lady. I have only two things to say to these angry beauties.

     

    One, Ms Winfrey is a television presenter and she will use footage that can get her American audiences transfixed. That’s her profession, that’s her job. Western audiences don’t want to see the high rises of Nariman Point, nor are they interested in videos of Parmeshwar Godrej’s glitzy party in Oprah’s honour. They want to see the poverty and squalor they usually associate withIndia, stuff they find quaint. The huge success of Slumdog Millionaire proves that. So don’t hold this video against the lady, she’s got TRPs to worry about.

     

    This incident should also remind you guys and gals to quit the gora (which ironically, Oprah is not even) fixation and get over the colonial hangover, it’s been over sixty years since we ousted them. Treat them like any other guest when they arrive, so that when they return to their own nations and report unflattering things, we simply ignore it and move on.

     

    Let’s be a little more confident about ourselves for god’s sake.

     

    * * *

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3jTSB2ez-g[/youtube]

    PS: Do watch this video on the art of designing a logo. It talks about the evolution of the logo over the centuries and its huge relevance to marketing. And there are some super examples too.

     

  • Wish you were at the West End, Covent Garden, Piccadilly,Oxford Street,KensingtonGardens,BuckinghamPalace, Tate Modern, instead of wherever you are, says Ranjona Banerji

    The Anchor: 6 things to watch out for in the 2012 London Games

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    I hope everyone interested in having a good laugh has been watching Twenty Twelve on BBC Entertainment, a comedy series which follows “the deliverance committee” involved in making sure the 2012 London Games run smoothly. Everything from bureaucracy to PR to political correctness to politics to jargon to celebrity are satirised brilliantly and it all seems so real.

     

    However, it is also possible that you interested in the Games themselves. In which case, here’s what to watch out for.

     

    1. The Opening ceremony on Friday, that is 1am (Saturday morning technically) for India on ESPN, Star Sports. Directed by Danny Boyle, (yes, he of the Jai Ho and slums are fun fame) it is expected to be a massive extravaganza. He has to compete with the glorious, breathtaking performance put up by the Chinese in Beijing in 2008. I don’t actually quite remember it actually, but it was spectacular. Lots of firework dragons. Or was that the first Lord of the Rings movie? Whatever.

     

    2. The Indian medal chase. This is supposed to be our best chance “ever” (please substitute your own version of an American teenager’s twang here) of winning lots of medals. Boxing, tennis (oh, wait, in India sometimes there’re both the same thing), hockey, badminton, wrestling, shooting… In fact, anything except running and jumping which, of course, are what the Olympics started with in ancient Greece. No one expects us to run and jump, least of all, us.

     

    3. Badminton starts on Saturday (go Saina Nehwal!), which is why badminton players may not be at the Danny Boyle show. Actually, so does boxing, athletics, handball, judo, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and just about everything else. Football has already started. So maybe no one will be at that opening ceremony, so it’ll be all sparse and minimalist and New Age.

     

    4. London, the best city in the world. Apart of course from New York, Paris, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dubai, Delhi, well of course, of course, that’s a joke! If you can’t be there, you can watch it, especially that giant red squirly whirly steel thingie made by that famous Indian artist chappie Anish Kapoor (Indian! We are the greatest!). So wish you were at the West End, Covent Garden, Piccadilly,Oxford Street,Kensington Gardens, Buckingham Palace, Tate Modern, instead of wherever you are.

     

    5. Wimbledon! This one is for me. The Championships are over, but tennis is going back to the green (or re-greened) grass. Twice in one year is remarkable and unique. (I wrote Wimbledon! But I meant Roger Federer! Of course.)

     

    6. There’s a special Olympic sport that has been included just for India. It’s called: Where’s That Kalmadi? You can seek him here, seek him there as the former head honcho of sporty stuff and hmm, other stuff, Suresh Kalmadi, weaves and dodges his way around the Games, avoiding the media, the athletes, the police…