India's 10 Most Valuable Companies

1. Reliance Industries Ltd.: Enjoying the numero uno position, RIL saw the addition of Rs 22,509.77 crore (Rs 225.097 billion) to its m-cap during the past week. At the end of trade on Monday, the Mukesh Ambani-led energy giant was valued at Rs 339,955.03 crore (Rs 3,399.550 billion).

2. ONGC: State-run ONGC continues to hold on to the second position. Oil and gas major ONGC added Rs 9,207.84 crore (Rs 92.078 billion) to its kitty to take its m-cap to Rs 300,278.77 crore (Rs 3,002.787 billion).

3. State Bank of India: India's largest bank and public sector giant, State Bank of India, saw its valuation swell by Rs 7,080.14 crore (Rs 70.801 billion) to Rs 197,111.19 crore (Rs 1,971.112 billion).

4. Tata Consultancy Services: India's largest IT company, Tata Consultancy Services, was fourth with a market capitalisation of Rs 178,124.77 crore (Rs 1,781.247 billion).

5. Infosys Technologies: IT giant Infosys Technologies was fifth. It added Rs 7,698.12 crore (Rs 76.981 billion) to its m-cap. The valuation of the company stood at Rs 172,136.86 crore (Rs 1,721.368 billion).

6. NTPC: Power major NTPC enlarged its valuation by Rs 2,968.37 crore (Rs 29.684 billion) to Rs 168,619.66 crore (Rs 1,686.196 billion). It is the sixth most valuable company in India.

7. Bharti Airtel: The country's top telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, added Rs 3,170.93 crore (Rs 31.709 billion) to take its m-cap to Rs 139,371.92 crore (Rs 1,393.719 billion).

8. ICICI: During the past week, ICICI Bank added Rs 10,809.4 crore (Rs 108.094 billion) to its m-cap.

9. Larsen & Toubro: Engineering major Larsen & Toubro saw its valuation expand by Rs 4,365.86 crore (Rs 43.658 billion) to Rs 120,569.69 crore (Rs 1,205.697 billion).

10. BHEL: Public sector major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd BHEL is the tenth most valuable Indian firm. Its market capitalisation stands at Rs 119,621.55 crore (Rs 1,196.215 billion) as on close of trading on Monday.

Source: http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/sep/20/slide-show-1-indias-10-most-valuable-companies.htm#contentTop

Astroturfing

Astroturfing denotes political, advertising, or public relations campaigns that are formally planned by an organization, but are disguised as spontaneous, popular "grassroots" behavior. The term refers to AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass. Previously, this was done by way of Public Relations firms and traditional print media, but new Astroturfing campaigns are carried out online as a form of reputation management and political advocacy.

US Senator Lloyd Bentsen, believed to have coined the term, was quoted by the Washington Post in 1985 using it to describe a "mountain of cards and letters" sent to his Senate office to promote insurance industry interests, which Bentsen dismissed as "generated mail."

“Astroturfers attempt to orchestrate the actions of apparently diverse and geographically distributed individuals, by both overt (“outreach”, “awareness”, etc.) and covert (disinformation) means. Astroturfing may be undertaken by an individual pushing a personal agenda or highly organized professional groups with financial backing from large corporations, unions, non-profits, or activist organizations.”

It has become easier to structure a commercial astroturfing campaign in the electronic era because the cost and effort to send an e-mail (especially a pre-written, sign-your-name-at-the-bottom e-mail) is so low. Companies may use a boiler room full of telephones and computers where hired activists locate people and groups who create enthusiasm for the specified cause. Also, the use of psychographics allows hired supporters to persuade their targeted audience.

Examples: In 2009, in Montreal, Canada, Morrow Communications, a marketing company, acknowledged creating a dummy blog falsely pretending to be managed by 3 individuals to promote the use of bicycles in Montreal. They also created videos for the Blog and a Facebook webpage. Everything was in fact a marketing campaign, to prepare the launch of Bixi, the new public bike system in Montreal.

The ethics of an Astroturfing campaign would vary by situation, but it is possible to use Astroturfing tactics in a manner that would not be dishonest.

The 36 Indian products of the year!

The main theme of the second Indian edition of the Product of the Year awards, held in Mumbai on March 6, was 'innovation'.

Awards were given away in as many as 36 categories, with over 30,000 Indian consumers across 36 cities, voting for the brands that they think are the best.

The 36 winners of Product of the Year 2010 are:

1. Air fresheners: Ambipur Aromatherapy Range

2. Anti-dandruff shampoo: CLEAR Anti Dandruff Shampoo

3. Anti-ageing: Garnier AgeLift Triactiv

4. Body lotions: Vaseline Healthy White

5. Children's foods: Cheetos Whoosh

6. Desktop PCs: HP Pavilion Desktops & Touchsmart PCs

7. DVD: Videocon d2h Satellite DVD 5002

8. Eye care: Garnier Light Eye Roll On

9. Hair care: Dove Intense Damage Therapy

10. Home theatre systems: LG Home Theatre System HB954

11. Hot beverages: Lipton Yellow Label

12. Household/kitchen cleaners: CIF Cream

13. Insect repellents: GoodKnight Advanced Low Smoke Coil

14. Insurance: HDFC Young Star Super

15. Ketchup/condiments: Kissan Squeezo

16. Laptops: HP Pavilion Notebooks - DV/DM Series

'Product of the Year' is the global consumer recognition standard that celebrates champions and rewards the best innovations in retail products done through an independent consumer survey across the country; in 28 countries for 23 years.

17. LCD: LG Jazz Theatre Series

18. Lingerie: Amante's Co-ordinate Set

19. Men's deodorants: Axe Inxtinct Deodorant Body Spray

20. Men's fairness: Garnier Men PowerLight Intensive Fairness Moisturiser

21. Men's hair care: Brylcreem Hybridz

22. Paints: Nerolac Impressions Excel Total Premium

23. Phones: LG GD 900 Crystal

24. Premium stationery: Bilt Eco Friendly Stationery

25. Ready to mix/powdered beverages: Nestea Lemon Iced Tea

26. Refreshers: Nimbooz by 7Up

27. Refrigerators: 3 Door Whirlpool Frost Free Refrigerators

28. Snack foods: Kurkure Desi Beats Crunchy Wheat

29. Soaps: Fiama Di Wills Gel Bathing Bars

30. Student's stationery: BILT Ten on Ten Student Stationery

31. Utensil cleaners: Vim Drop Dishwash Active Gel

32. Value phones: Videocon V1405

33. Washing machines: Whirlpool 1-2-3 Washing Machine

34. Women's deodorants: Dove Deodorants - Original

35. Women's fairness: Fair and Lovely AntiMarks Fairness Cream

36. Youth phones: LG GM 200

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Logo Evolution - Interesting Information 4

" History of well known logo designs"

MasterCard logo

Boeing logo

Alfa Romeo logo


GE logo


Saab logo


Yamaha logo

Mazda logo


BBC logo


Sony logo


Mercedes-Benz logo


Kodak logo
Reuters logo

Mitsubishi logo


Intel logo


Peugeot logo


CBS logo

Cadillac logo

Audi logo


Motorola logo


Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) logo


Buick logo


Texaco logo


Fiat logo


Nestle logo

Ford logo


Xerox logo
LEGO logo

Manufacturers Life Insurance Company logo


Aston Martin logo


LG Electronics logo

Renault logo


Siemens logo


Palm logo

Nortel logo

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Logo Evolution - Interesting Information 3

" History of well known logo designs"

Starbucks Logo Evolution

Il Giornarle was the espresso café Howard Schultz opened up in 1986 after failing to convince the original owners of Starbucks to focus on serving espresso beverages. By 1987, the two remaining original owners of Starbucks decided to sell the business and Howard jumped at the chance to buy Starbucks and remake it into the espresso bar concept he had just begun at Il Giornale.

“To symbolize the melding of the two companies [Il Giornarle and Starbucks] and two cultures, Terry [Heckler] came up with a design that merged the two logos. We kept the Starbucks siren with her starred crown, but made her more contemporary. We dropped the tradition-bound brown, and changed the logo’s color to Il Giornarle’s more affirming green.”

FedEx Logo Evolution

An interesting case is the refinement of the FedEx logo, where the brand consultants convinced the company to shorten their corporate name and logo from “Federal Express” to the popular abbreviation “Fed Ex”. Besides creating a shorter brand name, they reduced the amount of color used on vehicles (planes, trucks) and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in paint costs. Also, the right-pointing arrow in the new logo is a subliminal hint of motion.

Playboy Logo Evolution

Art Paul was working as a freelance designer when he in 1953 was contacted by playboy founder Hugh Hefner who needed a logo for his new magazine. He created the now famous rabbit wearing a tuxedo bow tie. Paul went on to design the whole first edition of the magazine and was hired by Hefner as Playboy’s first art director in 1954, a position he held for 30 years.

Playboy magazine claims it once received a letter at its Chicago, Illinois offices with its distinctive “bunny” logo as the only identifying mark, appearing where the mailing address normally appears.

Audi Logo Evolution

BMW Logo Evolution

WWF Logo Evolution

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Logo Evolution 1 - Pepsi, Coca Cola, Apple, Nike, Walmart, Google, Microsoft

Logo Evolution 2 - Shell, IBM, Canon, Nokia, Volkswagen, Firefox, Adobe

Logo Evolution 4 - Master Card, Boeing, Alfa Romeo, GE, Saab, Yamaha, Mazda, BBC, Sony, Mercedez-benz, kodak, Reuters, Mitsubishi, Intel, Peugeot, CBS, Cadillac, Audi, Motorola, MGM, Buick, Texaco, Fiat, Nestle, Ford, Xerox, Lego, Aston, LG, Manufacture Life Insurance, Renault, Siemens, Palm, Nortel