Be a Realistic Optimist

If you believe you will succeed, you will. Right? Not quite. Research has shown that optimism and the confidence it brings will help you reach your goals, but there is no guarantee. In fact, if you believe that success will come easily to you, you are more likely to disappoint. This is because you'll fail to put in the necessary work. You need to think positively but also be realistic about what achievement entails. Knowing that success is hard won forces you to put in the necessary effort. Don't spend too much time visualizing the end result. Instead, envision the steps you will take to get there.

Your Team Needs 3 Essential Characteristics

What makes a team work can feel like a mystery. While you can't guarantee success, you can give your team a better chance by being sure it has the following:

1.     A common purpose. Most teams form as a result of an outside mandate. To work together effectively, team members need to rally around a meaningful purpose they've embraced as their own.

2.     A mix of complementary skills. It's dangerous for everyone on a team to have the same skills and perspective. Look for people with varying technical and functional expertise who bring different approaches to problem-solving and decision-making.

3.     Mutual accountability. You cannot coerce commitment. The process of agreeing on a goal together will forge trust and build the team's accountability to one another.

 So, whenever you form a team, ask yourself - do we have all these 3 essential characteristics?

Brand Element Change in 'All Out'

In a sad development, the new owners of the brand All Out - M/s SC Johnson has killed the most powerful brand element of All Out- The Frog. The new campaign of All Out does not feature the famous All Out Frog which was instrumental in popularizing the brand across various segments.

From the birth of the brand, the frog has been the unique identifier and differentiators for All Out. The character was very much instrumental in conveying the effectiveness of the brand. 

People began to instantly understand the frog's symbolic meaning. But the Frog has now moved into history. The current campaign not only excludes the frog but the entire positioning of the brand has been changed. Instead of the frog, the brand is now following the typical laser effect that all other brands shows in their respective ads. The brand now has the tagline “All round protection for the family” and has moved away from being the "Yamraj for Mosquitoes ".

The removal of All Out frog is a definite retrograde step for the brand. The learned minds of the company forgot to appreciate the effort and the money that has been spent on creating such a powerful brand element. The frog was also a powerful differentiators for the brand. All these have been removed in one stroke. I don't understand the rationale or logic behind killing such a powerful differentiators. If that brand element was replaced by another powerful element, it would have been fine. But rather, the new campaign is nothing but a copycat of other similar brand's advertisements. So in a way the company has found an ingenious way to kill a powerful brand.