My Media Diet: Arun Rajagopal May 8, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Advertising, Conversations, Digital, Movies, Social Media, Travel.Tags: Meme
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Chinese “Mid Town Buffet”, NYC, originally uploaded by MidtownLunch.
Print: I’m fond of two dailies – Times of Oman & Times of India, though I’m not a regular reader. Reading Times of Oman is something that I want to do first thing when I get to work. I especially dig catching copy mistakes in TOI.
Magazines: I’m a voracious reader of magazines. I especially dig Time, Ahlan Masala, Esquire and National Geographic. I last read British Airways’ in-flight magazine “High Life“. I’m very fond of in-flight magazines and used to collect them as a kid. Next on my reading list comes “Forbes 2008 Guide to the Biggest Companies in the World” & “America’s Largest Corporations Fortune 500”.
Books: I used to be a compulsive bookworm when I was a kid, but I’ve been reading less lately. It’s an appalling habit I’m working on and the first step towards that is building a mini-library at home. I last read Deepak Chopra’s Buddha and John Grisham’s The Summons. I’m currently reading Rohit Bhargava’s Personality Not Included and John Grisham’s The King of Torts.
Online: I read the following news portals on a daily basis: Indiatimes.com & Rediff.com. Both websites keep me connected to current affairs in India. Cricinfo.com feeds me fodder on cricket. Wikipedia.org gives me much needed dope on topics I pluck out from thin air. I browse daily through Arabianbusiness.com with a particular focus on the aviation & travel industry. If you didn’t know, I’m a total transportation buff with interests in trains, planes and buses. I’m also a regular visitor to the picture galleries of IRFCA.org (slakes my passion for Indian Railways).
Blogging: My personal blog www.arunrajagopal.com is where I talk about my travels, rail-fanning adventures, my 2-cents on advertising and social media and the many things I find interesting in life. I don’t consider my blog as an expert authority on marketing. The most important purpose of my blog is to help me stay connected to some of my very dear friends who are leading marketing bloggers around the world. Through my blog, I reach out to them and become a part of their lives. My blogging frequency is usually 4-5 blog posts per month. A few weeks ago, I started another blog on Tumblr that serves as my bookmarking diary. I usually read blogs related to advertising, digital and social media such as Adgoodness, Adsoftheworld, Adblogarabia, Adverblog, and the ones on my blogroll. I check out all my incoming links via my Technorati page and WordPress dashboard.
Some blogs & websites I want to spend more time on are Micro Persuasion, The Buzz Bin, The 360 Digital Influence Blog, Logic+Emotion, Copyblogger, Marketing Profs Daily Fix, Bannerblog, Digital Media Wire & MediaPost Publications.
Email: Email is probably the important part of my media mix. I love to check my email every 5 minutes (ideally) when I’m in front of a comp. If I’m on the go, I check my mail on my Nokia N73 music edition using my Oman Mobile Hayyak prepaid connection. My email is my lifeline! I’m a compulsive yahooligan and somehow don’t feel so attached to Gmail or Hotmail.
Television: I’m not too fond of TV and prefer spending as much time away from the box as possible. I dig MTV, Channel V, VH-1, cricket channels, popular channels in Tamil & Malayalam.
Web 2.0 Logos, originally uploaded by wp4lib.
Social Media Tools: I’m active on Facebook and LinkedIn. I don’t believe in needlessly adding people to hike up numbers, and I ensure that I only have people in there who I need to be in touch with. I dig most of the Facebook applications such as the quizzes (I try most of them and then weed them out occasionally) and feel that the new Chat feature offers an exciting way to connect with people. My Facebook account is a more personal window for me to reach out to my friends; while my blog is the world’s informal window to my life.
I’ve given up on Orkut, even though I have quite a bit of friends there who are not on Facebook. I haven’t yet started podcasting. I do vlogging, especially of my travels. I’m very active on Flickr with a large collection of travel photos, trains and destinations. Nope, I don’t do Second Life or Skype (it’s blocked in Oman). I’m on YouTube, Daily Motion, Vodpod and Vimeo, and I‘m just setting up my second del.icio.us account.
Chat: MSN Chat is an inseparable part of my life, especially with its online text messaging tool. I used to be a total Yahoo Messenger junkie back in the days.
Cinema: I’m a prolific cinemagoer, sometimes watching the same movie twice or thrice in the theatre. I spend most of my weekends hopping from one theatre to the other. (We have 5 cineplexes in Muscat). I watch movies in English, Hindi, Tamil & Malayalam. I last saw The Forbidden Kingdom (click on link to watch trailer) and The Bucket List (click on link to watch trailer). I’m currently watching There Will Be Blood (click on link to watch trailer). I occasionally rent movies on DVD and watch them on a laptop when I’m traveling. I especially like movies that make me cry. 😉
Twitter: Twitter is the latest addition / addiction in my media mix. Not only does it serve as a link feed for interesting blog posts and news resources posted by people with like-minded interests, it also helps me keep track of what my friends across the globe are up to. My mission is to maintain building my Twitter list as an authority base of thought leaders passionate about advertising, social media and global perspectives; and to continue updating my KQ.
Music: A very important part of my existence. I’m usually listening to music while I’m at work, at home or on the commute. I need music to play in the background for me to get going. At work, I plug into my headphones hooked up to my PC, while at home I choose to go with the home theatre system, laptop or the box speakers plugged into the iPod. I have an iPod Touch, an iPod Shuffle & a Nokia N73 music edition loaded with my fav tunes. I listen to English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu music. For some reason, I love songs more than the artists. I have never used iTunes store till date, and visit a lot of blogs and music streaming websites to get my music.
Miscellaneous media consumption: I don’t use a feed reader. I subscribe to blogs such as The Viral Garden, ChrisG.com through email. I get updates on Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, Bowen Craggs Web Tips and a Google Alert on “Arun Rajagopal” in my email. I subscribe via mail to Ad Age Daily, Ad Age Digital, Creativity Online, BestAdsOnTV and MarketingProfs Today. I do not keep a diary, though I rely heavily on handwritten lists to get through my daily grind. I particularly keep an eye out for outdoor media, POS, in store experiences and billboards. I love Times Square for the same reason & I totally adore the M&Ms (click on link to watch video) board out there. I like the HSBC perspective posters they have in the air-bridges at London Heathrow. I love interesting messages that are placed in the most obvious places.
What’s your media diet? I’d love to hear from Tim Brunelle, Linda Sherman, Cam Beck & Ryan Karpeles. Do spread the meme far & wide.
Bloggerspiel on Media Diets & Media Snacking:
Connie Reece – Got the Munchies? Have a Media Snack
http://everydotconnects.com/2007/10/25/got-the-munchies-have-a-media-snack/
Drew McLellan – Serve a steady stream of snack-sized messages
http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/2007/10/serve-a-steady-.html
Neil Perkin – Memes Like Buses
http://neilperkin.typepad.com/only_dead_fish/2008/01/memes-like-buse.html
Asi Sharabi – My Week in Media
http://no-mans-blog.com/2008/01/my-week-in-media/
C.B. Whittemore – My Media Diet
http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-media-diet.html
David Reich – My Media Diet
http://reichcomm.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/05/my-media-diet.html
Quibblo Personality Quiz – What is your media consumption level?
http://www.quibblo.com/quiz/1GRrM/What-is-your-media-consumption-level
Oman Air: The New Wings of Oman February 24, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Advertising, Oman, Travel.Tags: Corporate Branding, Oman Air, The New Wings of Oman, Wunderman Oman
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My latest campaign at Wunderman Oman is one of the most exciting projects I have ever worked on. It has been exciting, hectic (explains the blogging hiatus) and a great learning curve.
After all, it’s not every day that you get to work on the rebranding of a country’s national airline.
Particularly gratifying for me is that I have worked on this brand for the last 3 years, across 2 agencies. It gives you a great high to watch an airline take off in new colors, especially when you have played a role in its ‘vibrant, new journey’.
Welcome to the new wings of Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman.
The rebranding exercise became essential as Oman Air has changed its focus from being a leading regional airline to a competitive global player.
The airline is currently expanding its wings with an ambitious fleet expansion programme and launch of new destinations (9 cities in 2007).
Our campaign delved into the psyche of Oman as a traditionally friendly and hospitable nation to create the message that as ambassadors of the nation, Oman Air brings élan, friendliness and warmth to flying.
The revitalized brand identity features the Oman Air logo as a contemporary rendition of Frankincense smoke. Frankincense is one of the most evocative expressions of Oman’s vibrant heritage and culture.
Those familiar with Arabian history will know the significant role frankincense has played in Oman’s history. Today, burning incense is an inseparable part of Omani life and is indicative of the country’s enduring traditions of hospitality.
A high-profile corporate branding and aircraft livery unveiling event (with laser show and the works) was held yesterday at the Shangri-La’s Barr-Al Jissah Resort and Spa, Muscat. The ‘New Wings of Oman’ press campaign was launched across Oman today.
TV spots unveiling the new look of Oman Air will roll out across the Middle East this week. Communications across diverse media – print, outdoor and digital will follow.
Here’s the print campaign & logo rationale of ‘The New Wings of Oman’…
Teasers 1, 2,3:
Launch Ad – Double Spread:
Logo Rationale Book (Giveaway in a wooden box of frankincense):
Watch this space for more news on ‘The New Wings of Oman’ campaign.
Update: TBWA/Zeenah, a leading agency in Muscat designed the new logo and livery of Oman Air, while Wunderman Oman developed brand communications for other media through ‘The New Wings of Oman’ campaign. Hat tip to Ivan Sidzhakov at TBWA/Zeenah, who worked on the new logo.
The Best of Indian Railways January 20, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in India, Indian Railways, Travel.Tags: Indian Railways, Konkan Railways, Railfanning, Train Videos, WAP4, WCAM, WDM2
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Here are 2 mash-ups of my rail-fanning adventures across India in 2006 & 2007.
Highlights:
- Mangalore bound Parasuram Express bleating its horn at Valapattanam
- Speeding through a Mumbai local station
- Trainspotting at Varanasi
- Konkan Jan Shatabdi at Divankhavati
- Overtaking a MG train at Kollam outer
- WCAM/WAG banker freight action on the ghats at Igatpuri
- Mumbai bound Ratnagiri Superfast Express entering Jalgaon
- Cucumber seller at Jalgaon
- High-speed rail action / crossings in the Kollam-Kayankulam stretch and Kannur
- Footplating on the WAP4
- RORO train on Konkan Railways
- Double-headed WDM2 freight action after Madgaon
- Friendly railway staff on Konkan Railway
- Kerala Express spotted at Aluva and Kollam outer
The background score in this video is from Androsphynx & TechnoDaftpunk, but I have also preserved the original sound from the clipss so that you can hear the train beats and the loco horns.
The background score of this video is a song from the Tamil movie Aran. No train beats, just rail action!
Hope you enjoy them!
The WAP4 Ride January 7, 2008
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in India, Indian Railways, Travel.Tags: Footplating, Indian Railways, WAP4
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The WAP4 is one of my favorite electric locos. (Well, I’ve an internal tussle going on for the favorite spot between the WDM2 and the WAP4, but that can wait later).
Here’s a video of my first ever footplate* ride on a WAP4 in Kerala in 2007. The ride was awesome as we cruised along lush greenery. Check out the assistant loco pilot call out the signals. Creating this video required some deft editing skills, especially since I didn’t want to show the loco drivers. Windows Movie Maker rocks. Enjoy the ride.
Footplating
To ride in the cab of a locomotive, from the old term footplate from steam days, referring to the horizontal surface projecting from the locomotive frame, on which the loco cab was constructed. Although diesels and electrics do not have a footplate like that, the terminology persists.
Source: http://www.irfca.org/faq/faq-jargon.html
Views from KL Tower November 2, 2007
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Travel.Tags: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Petronas Twin Towers
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Menara Kuala Lumpur or KL Tower is the 4th tallest telecom tower in the world with a height of 421m. Here are a few snaps from my recent visit to KL Tower on a steamy, overcast morning. From the observation deck on the tower, you can get fabulous views of Kuala Lumpur’s sprawling skyline. And of course, the Petronas Twin Towers.
Horseplay at Kuala Lumpur October 28, 2007
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Travel.Tags: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sultan's Palace, Travel
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I love this pic from my recent trip to Kuala Lumpur. This is taken at the gates of the Sultan’s Palace, Kuala Lumpur. Bus loads of tourists come here and pose with the sentry on duty at the gates and snap themselves up. The horse sifts around while the soldier mounting him has to sit still, without batting an eyelid.
The usually restless horsey took a liking for me – may be it was the red shirt – so he went on to give me a ‘rub-down’ while I posed for my pic. I kind of freaked out, but tried not to show. I kind of looked through the corners of my eyes to see what he was up to and then later when I got the snap, I saw even the soldier was looking through the corners of his eyes to see what his horse was up to!
Great snap, great memory, pure horseplay!
I’m back home! October 19, 2007
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Travel.Tags: Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Phuket, Thailand, Vacation
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Hey, I’m back home after my week-long getaway to the Far East. 7 days in Thailand and Malaysia. It was not the average run-of-the-mill package tour trip. It was such a different kind of a holiday. Not the one you go and come back all recharged and firing on all cylinders.
It was such a hectic, tiring, strenuous trip – but that’s the way I planned it. And it was so much fun. All the exhaustion, the illness, the jet lag and constant running around was all worth it. I will blog more about my travel adventures in the days to come. But summing up the trip, here are the real gems from the holiday –
1. Meeting some amazing people on the road and being a part of their experiences. Cyril, Paola, Than, Muant, Risto, Anna Marie, Catherine, Lidwina, George and so many other people whose names I don’t know but faces I will remember forever.
2. Train ride on the Langkawi Express (Kuala Lumpur-Butterworth-Hat Yai) to Pedang Besar and back.
3. Visiting the Petronas Twin Towers, KL Tower and all those amazing places in Kuala Lumpur.
4. Meeting Russell, my new pet ‘monkey’. Thank you Cyril & Paola for getting me him.
5. Boat ride on the Chao Phraya river. And meeting an adorable boat conductor who thought I was ‘handsome’.
6. Bag-shopping at China Town, Kuala Lumpur.
7. Slosh-dancing it out with over a dozen gurls at a Phuket pub.
8. Catching 8 flights in 7 days and snapping up skyscapes – my new hobby.
9. Getting my hands on a replica of the Petronas Malaysian F1 Grand Prix 2007 trophy at Royal Selangor, the factory that makes them at Kuala Lumpur.
10. Patong Beach, Phuket.
11. Lying on a platform bench on the deserted railway station at Pedang Besar while watching it rain for over 3 hours.
12. The flu, fever, infections in eyes and ears. I earned my visit to the Government Hospital at Lat Krabang. I love my OP card from Thailand’s Ministry of Health. The whole hospital experience was fun!
13. Cab rides in the night through Bangkok amidst the lashing downpour.
13. All the rides on the monorail, BTS, shuttle, blue line, green line – anything and everything that runs on rails, both at Bangkok and KL.
14. Oh yeah, the Aquaria at KLCC. Those sharks really mean business.
15. Ummm, the shopping!
It’s such a beautiful world out there!
Doha Blogging: Raja Hasan & the Oryx Lounge October 11, 2007
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, India, Travel.Tags: Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge, Oryx Lounge Doha Airport, Qatar Airways, Raja Hasan
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Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007 is a popular Indian Television singing competition… which I don’t follow :). However, the entreaties of a colleague at work recently made me notice Raja Hasan, a singer of great promise who is a finalist on this year’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge.
When Sudhaji (Sudha Janardhan), my colleague at work, who is also a hardcore fan of Raja Hasan requested me to listen to his songs and write a post on my blog asking viewers of Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007 or supporters of Raja Hasan to vote for him online, it was a request I could not refuse. I was supposed to write this post 2 days ago, but with mound loads of work, it simply never happened. So here I’m going gaga over Raja Hasan at a fancy airport lounge in Doha!
Listen to Raja Hasan’s amazing voice:
If you like Raja Hasan’s music, please vote for him by clicking here. Please note that voting closes on Saturday October 13, 8 AM. Visit the following link for Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge website on rediff.com. Click here to visit the official Raja Hasan Blog.
Um, I just got to Doha an hour ago. I’ve a few more hours to catch my connecting flight to Bangkok. (I’ve told you about my 7 day backpacking trip to Thailand and Malaysia, right?) Doha International Airport is amazing and I really love the Oryx Lounge from where I’m writing this post. Oryx Lounge has great facilities for travellers in transit who want to unwind at the airport. Their net connection is great, the snack bar looks sumptuous and the attendant just handed me towels for my shower. Great comfort and convenience for 6 hours at just 90 Qatari Riyals ( 24.7 USD)!!!
My Qatar Airways flight from Muscat was awesome. Loved those soft, fluffy seats that sent me and the cute kid who sat next to me to snoozeland. My flight to Bangkok is on an A330 and that means – personal AVOD (audio video on demand) – don’t know which movie I will choose, there are at least a dozen I want to watch from what they offer. 🙂
Um, I’m gonna put the brakes on blogging now, need to do some travel research on Thailand and Malaysia… will be back soon! And Sudhaji, hope this post makes your day today!
A break coming up! September 28, 2007
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Travel.Tags: Backpacking, Malaysia, Thailand
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Wat Arun at Sunset, originally uploaded by Stuck in Customs.
Summer Storm over Kuala Lumpur, originally uploaded by Stuck in Customs.
Trey Ratcliff takes some amazing snaps!
Uhmmm, I need a break so badly. It’s been an awesome but hectic time since I got back from India this July. Been involved in lots of challenging advertising campaigns and interesting projects such as event-blogging ‘The Night of the Adeaters’ and ‘Social Media Challenge’. All work and no play make Arun a dull boy, right? (Huh, those who know me will attest to the amount of ‘play’ I have at work!)
I’m gonna take off on a backpacking trip to Thailand and Malaysia for a week come October 10th. Actually, I haven’t had the time to figure out what I will be doing as I have been hard pressed for time to do travel research. I will be spending most of my time in Malaysia and running from airport to airport – I have 8 flights to catch in 7 days, kewl huh?
It’s my second time in Thailand – I hope to get back to the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo in Chonburi where I had such a good time feeding tiger cubs and volunteering in the Elephant circus in 2005. My friends like to rub it in once in a while about how I got my ‘privates’ massaged not by one, but five elephant cubs in the Elephant circus. Would you believe that I never took a camera last time I went? So this time, photography and travel writing top my agendas. And throw a lot of beaches, trains and solitude into it.
If any one of you is going to be in these places and would like to meet up, please give me a shout-out. We’ll have a ball.
As of now the plan is:
Bangkok & Pattaya – 11th and 12th of Oct
Phuket – 13th of Oct
Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere – 13th to 16th of Oct
Phuket – 16th and 17th of Oct
Any interesting places / activities in these places that you recommend?
36 Cities of the World September 8, 2007
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in Conversations, Travel.1 comment so far
36 Cities, originally uploaded by thelastminute.
I love this collage of 36 interesting visuals of the 36 largest metros in the world. We live in such a beautiful world.
Credit: Duncan Rawlinson
Arun Rajagopal 