Me Too? No Thank You!

A term I first became aware of whilst studying advertising & marketing, decades before its more mainstream interpretation, symbolising sexual harassment in recent parlance. Most marketers invest a lot of time & effort in liberating their brands from the forgettable trap of ‘yet another generic’ and try to cast, or recast, their labels as noticeable, memorable, clutter-breaking icons. Examples that spring to mind include Colgate, Xerox & Maggi, which have dominated collective consciousness to the extent that it has made it almost impossible for other brands to find a place!

 

The analogies we can draw from this realm of ad & marketing, juxtaposed with us human individuals, and the benefits that can be derived are staggering. Which individual wouldn’t want to be as distinctly top-of-mind recall for a critical mass of people in the same way as Colgate!

 

In an age of cloning, sameness, and a desperate need to belong and be accepted, more and more individuals are conforming. Either to family, society, cohorts and peer groups, sometimes compromising certain ideals, at other times, refashioning their beliefs to fit in with the popular majority. 

 

How then is an individual to truly stand out, stand apart, make an impact, and not be entirely swallowed by and lost in the mire of me-tooness? By applying certain marketing fundamentals.

 

On some prior occasions when I have suggested this, and I even use a few of these tools to great effect (If I may say so myself) in my psychological counselling sessions, I have been accused of robbing some of the authenticity from a deep & inward self-reflective excavation to unearth one’s true purpose. I appreciate that concern. My submission however, is that given a scenario in which, for the most part, there is no journey taking place at all, inward, outward, explorative, introspective; at least through what I am suggesting, a young person can build an ‘outward’ differentiated brand-identity for the self – and who knows, through that process, even stumble upon some genuine insights!

 

Which brings me to the simple tool I’d like to share in and through this little write-up. It is essentially a mildly revised version of a fairly standardised and commonplace Marketing Exercise called a SWOT Analysis – adapted by me to better suit a human individual rather than an inanimate brand.

Driveway Devi Life-Guidance Counselling Client SWOT-ANALYSIS

Let us begin with a basic SWOT Analysis of the Self. SWOT, as you might know, elaborates on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. To help you get started, I am sharing a SWOT analysis of myself in the table below:

Strengths	Communication Skills	Empathy	People’s Skills
Weaknesses	Erratic Mental Health/Moods	Erratic Physical Health	Tendency To Procrastinate
Opprtunities	Social-Emotional Learning Curricula at Schools	Therapeutic Communications Programs at Corporations	Mental Health Content
Threats	Deficit of Will/Time at Schools, Colleges, Corporations	Artificial Intelligence	Established Players

Conclusions:

1. Partnering with a well-regarded, allied organisation that will boost the national profile
2. Tapping into networks of alma mater, clubs and other individuals I’m friendly with
3. Greater focus on steady medication, diet & exercise for longevity & stability of physical & mental health
4. Advocacy of AI-related deficits in the realm of Mental Health & Social Emotional Learning
5. Proprietary Annual Property that becomes synonymous with Mental-Health + DD + Kartik 

You will notice that in the above sample of my own SWOT Analysis, I have written 3 Strengths, 3 Weaknesses, 3 Opportunities and 3 Threats. I have then carefully analysed these findings and written a 5 Point Conclusion, with specific Steps to best capitalise on the Strengths & Opportunities whilst mitigating the negative impact of the Weaknesses & Threats. 

Kartik Bajoria – Founder, Driveway Devi Life Guidance

Member Good Schools Alliance

Edoardo Montenegro ”I am passionate about Education...

Listen to the Podcast

AMBASSADOR, COUNTRY LEAD HUNDRED

Edoardo Montenegro, Torino, Italy

Episode #51: Sandeep Dutt in conversation with Edoardo Montenegro, a Hundred Ambassador and Country Lead. Edoardo has a strong passion for learning and a deep love for community, change and communication management. He developed his professional skills working for the banking industry in Italy, where he learned to plan and execute communication projects in marketing and HR. Once he understood the impact innovation has on companies and society, he gave space to his entrepreneurial vocation. He co-founded Betwyll, an ed-tech startup that fosters reading through social networking, working with more than 600 schools and universities worldwide. All this led him to Northern Europe, where he learned to work both as a tech entrepreneur and an ecosystem builder.

Betwyll helps teachers make students read more, better and with lots of fun.

We developed a reading method and a webapp which combine reading and social networking, a place where students can read, comment, share and learn together. The teacher chooses a book, sets a reading calendar and then asks students to read and add short comments of 140 characters to each paragraph they want. The method works on paper as well as on the webapp, improving deep reading skills.

Learning Forward Podcast 14th Nov 2020

https://anchor.fm/learningforward

Learning Forward

By Sandeep Dutt

You will love the stories shared by our happy teachers and passionate educators. We grow the capacity of your people to improve student achievement and transform your school into a culture of trust and collaboration in less time with fewer resources. Each person in your school contributes to the culture of your school. School culture is built on the actions and interactions of the people. You make your school stronger by adding value to others and making others feel valued.

Social Media Marketing

Avignyata Inc.- Social Media Marketing 
Avignyata Inc. isn't the usual corporate office- here we sit in a room with movie posters, access FB and Twitter all day, order in, download apps, play on the XBox and Kinect, but still reach a milestone in number of fans and evoke a lot of response from the fans. Easy going, yet professional and committed towards our work!

Avignyata Inc. is a Social Media Marketing Consultancy founded in 2007 by Moksh Juneja and Daksh Juneja with the aim to create awareness of a brand on social networks. From being a 2 member team in 2007, it has grown into one with a task force of over 30 people.

With the growth on the internet as a medium of information exchange increasing daily, Avignyata understands the need for organizations, individuals and brands to have a presence on social media. With each client, they identify unique and effective trends and employ these trends to engage with the users over an interactive platform based on feedback, reviews and constructive criticism.

It doesn’t end here. Their comprehensive services also allow you to zero-in on potential customers, key areas of activity and check out where the buzz is created, listen to what users have to say about your brand and much more.