Fifty-two weeks ago, the revamped version of this marketing supplement set out on a mission to become the change agent for Indian marketing. For those who have followed the progress of The Hindu Business Line for over 20 years, it was cat.a.lyst’s return after a long hiatus. A lot had changed in the marketing space by then.
But if you look back at 2014, the change in the last one year has outpaced what happened in marketing over the last decade. It is obvious that change and cat.a.lyst go hand-in-hand.
As we sit in the centre of this exciting phase of change, our intention is to become the sounding board for marketers in India and abroad and keep you updated with the latest on the marketing front.
We hope to pack more punch in future editions of
Of course, amidst all these changes, some things will be constant. We propose to retain the flavour of being a breezy read.
We will continue to stimulate the thinking of everyone who’s interested in brands. In the last one year, our unique Brand Crossword has taken cat.a.lyst beyond the marketing fraternity and even captured the attention of crossword lovers from across the world.
For this special edition, we invited Al Ries, the globally-renowned brand focus strategist, Kevin Roberts, Executive Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, Rita Gunther McGrath, Associate Professor, Columbia Business School, and Cindy Gallop, business and brand innovator and Founder & CEO, IfWeRanTheWorld/MakeLoveNotPorn, to write for us. Fortunately for us, they did not disappoint this one-year-old. You will find their thought-provoking articles in the following pages.
For our opening essay, marketing veteran Harish Bhat, who is also our regular columnist, spells out how much marketing has changed in the last one year. That the digital medium is no longer a side dish but very much a part of the main course is just one of the many interesting takeaways he offers. Happy reading!