Question hour

The ethics of development

Is development good? Is development bad? Is business good? Is business bad?

Mapusa, Goa

Ravi, this is unfair. That’s four questions in one.

Let me attempt a reply with a question.

First of all, who defines development itself? What is development really? And how much of it do we need? And importantly, who decides how much we need and how much we don’t? And how many perspectives of development do we really look at while locating our mega-billion-dollar brand projects?

Why do I ask these questions despite being one bred into the lap of crass commerce?

Isn’t it obvious that development is good for the largest numbers? And as a practising democracy (the largest of them all in the world), isn’t democracy the rule of the largest majority for the good of the largest numbers? Have we not been taught this in our management schools?

What is the solution then? Is greed really good? Where must we draw the line on what to do and where? How does one tackle it all?

The key issue at hand in the case of most development businesses that seek to establish mega projects that will make the steel and the cars and the aluminium from the bauxite mines and more is the issue of displacing people from their origin homes. Origin homes that mean their land, their dwellings, the graves of their ancestors, their temples, their Gods and indeed, in many ways, their memories and their roots. To the tribal at large, all these are much more valuable than the sheer lure of money and jobs and even food at times. This kind of development is avoidable, for sure.

And then there is development that offers the ability to order stuff for the kitchen from the comfort of your home. This might be welcomed by many.

I am told there are many types of logos. What are they, really?

Jamshedpur

Mohita, logos can be of many kinds. Visual logos that scream the brand colours, its fonts, its icon in use and much else. They are the obvious ones.

Sonic logos are ones that define the sound of a brand. The moment you hear it, you have your memory tags jolted into action, and in a fraction of a second you are able to associate a name with the sound of the brand. A unique sonic-logo that the brand enjoys as its own. The third type of a logo is the scent logo. The moment you smell it, you know the brand.

Logos are therefore not one but many. In the case of many brands all three logo formats blend with one another to create the identity of the brand in the mind of a consumer. The objective of the logo is a simple one. Jolt the brand memory tags in the mind of a consumer to very quickly associate one with the other. Get the consumer to think of your brand and everything it stands for, in a fraction of a moment.

Therefore, as a consumer, one keeps all faculties alive and open to welcome the logo.

COMMENT NOW