Official Blog of GTM360 Marketing Solutions
Ketharaman Swaminathan 
After reading a reference to HAWAII by James A. Michener in a recent book entitled THE LAST KINGDOM by Steve Berry, I went back to the old classic that I’d read in the late 1980s. The book begins millions of years ago when the ocean that we now call Pacific Ocean rises and submerges dozens … Read more
No, there’s no typo in the title. In the past, whenever I bought a fridge, washing machine or any other white good item from this leading electronics chain, I’d settle on the brand and model of the product with the store’s sales rep. Before I’d reach the checkout, I’d be accosted by a bunch of … Read more
The other day, someone complained that ChatGPT did not follow his instructions. Ansh Agrawal: Is it just me, or has ChatGPT become worse at following instructions? I told it to do X, and it did Y. I cleared out the instructions and asked if it understood them. It said yes. But, it did the same … Read more
SEC’s approval for Bitcoin ETF makes it official that Bitcoin is an asset – because ETFs are created only out of assets (or asset classes, apart from indexes). Ergo you have Sensex ETF, S&P500 ETF, Gold ETF, Crude Oil ETF. Crude oil ETFs — KK (@KrishnakuKumar) February 8, 2024 Since ETF is not a thing … Read more
People throw around the M word too freely. Whenever a company increases its price, behaves arrogantly, sucks at customer service, or acts in any other manner against the consumer’s proximate interest, Jane / Joe Six Pack rushes to accuse it of being a monopoly. This is wrong. Monopoly means there’s only one supplier in a … Read more
Forty years ago, people used to ask, we have FORTRAN for scientific applications and COBOL for business applications, why do we need PASCAL, C++, and dBaseIII+? Twenty five years ago, the question changed to, we have C++ and Foxpro, what’s the need for Java and .NET? Ten years ago, people wondered why a decentralized app … Read more
(This post is a slightly edited version of my answer to the above Quora question.) Equating the cash handling capabilty of a vending machine with that of an ATM is like saying a shovel and 80 feet container are the same because they both handle loads. Most vending machines only accept coins. The few that … Read more
Branding is often conflated with marketing and other elements of marketing. Before we clear some of the misconceptions about branding and amplify some of its other attributes, let me copy-paste the definitiion of branding from our previous post titled Power Of Branding In B2B. Branding “Branding” is endowing products and services with the power of … Read more
I described ticketing problems with Pune Metro in my previous posts titled Pune Metro First Impressions and Pune Metro Second Impressions. I experienced another ticketing snafu on my third trip. I bought a return ticket from Ruby Hall Clinic to Vanaz (the two terminuses of the Aqua Line). I got off at Vanaz Station and … Read more
PayTM is the first digital payment product I’ve used at scale in India. When RBI enforced the two factor authentication mandate for online payments, bill payments became a major PITA. By requiring users to fill credit card number, expiration date, and half a dozen fields, Reg 2FA caused tremendous friction. After they received the OTP, … Read more