One of the many joys of collecting articles, notes, reading materials etc., and filing them under different folders is finding something when you least expect it. As is this discovery today – an old but interesting list of questions that requires you to think laterally if you wish to solve them.
There are five questions here. Don’t look at the answers immediately after each question but try answering all of them and then scroll down for the answers.
Good luck!
1. A woman had two sons who were born on the same hour of the same day of the same year. But they were not twins. How could this be so?
2. A murderer is condemned to death. He has to choose between three rooms. The first is full of raging fires, the second is full of assassins with loaded guns, and the third is full of lions that haven’t eaten in three years. Which room is safest for him?
3. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday? (or day names in any other language)
4. A man is wearing black shoes, socks, trousers, coat, gloves and ski mask. He is walking down a back street, with all the street lamps of. A black car is coming towards him with its light off, but somehow he manages to stop in time. How did the driver see the man?
5. Why is it better to have round manhole covers than square ones? (This is logical than lateral, but it is a good puzzle that can be solved by lateral thinking techniques. It is supposedly used as an interview question by a leading software company for prospective employees.)
Here, are the answers….
1. They were two of a set of triplets (or quadruplets). This simple puzzle stumps many people. They try outlandish solutions involving test-tube babies or surrogate moms. Why does the brain search for complex solutions when there is a much simpler one available?
2. The third. Lions that have not eaten in three years are dead!
3. Sure you can. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow!
4. It was day time.
5. A square manhole cover can be turned and dropped down the diagonal of the manhole. A round manhole cannot be dropped down a manhole. So for safety and practicality, all manhole covers should be round.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Saturday, October 01, 2011
Fly the bad times
One of the many wonderful things about beer is its ability to wake up dozing brains and shake up dormant thinking. One more reason why I think beer is god’s gift to mankind!
But this article is not about beer. This is not even about someone having beer. This is about a beer that had one too many. Brand extensions, that is.
I am talking about Kingfisher Airlines. This strong beer brand had painstakingly frothed up enough sales to become the leader. And what does its princely owner, Mr. Mallya, do? He extends its name to an airline he launches with much fanfare.
Why name an airline Kingfisher to fly high. A few Kingfisher bottles would have done that happily! Never mind.
Kingfisher is ‘the king of good times’. Kingfisher Airlines is ‘fun in the sky’. Screw No.1.
And then Mr. Mallya goes out and buys Air Deccan – an extremely successful low cost airline till then – for around Rs.1,000 crores and renames it Kingfisher Red. Why? Maybe he wanted multiples! Who said men can’t?
Kingfisher Class is the premium airline. Kingfisher Red is the low cost one. Clearly distinctive offerings; to satisfy the flying urge of a growing nation. Another of those marketing theories preached in all business schools and academic books with disastrous results.
But the consumer has other plans. He looks at things a wee bit differently. Kingfisher is beer. He found Kingfisher Airlines a bit too strong to his liking. Even worse, Kingfisher is premium. And when you dilute that by extending the name to a low cost product – even if it’s an airline - the consumer is not willing to gulp any of it.
Need proof? Accumulated losses of Kingfisher Airlines are a staggering Rs. 5,000 crores and its total debt a stunning Rs. 6,000 crores. If I am not mistaken, that’s a lot of money and a lot of losses. Enough to give a spectacular hangover!
Before you say all airlines are bleeding, I would like to point out two things: One, in a capital intensive industry like airlines, I agree it takes times to break even. Yet, Spice Jet, Indigo and Go Air are on the ascent and can see light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Two, Jet Airways used to be profitable till they too were bitten by the extension bug and launched Jet Lite, Jet Connect apart from its flagship Jet Airways. And flew into turbulence ever since. That nasty cold called extension causing the sneeze again!
Coming back to Kingfisher, Mr. Mallya has now decided to kill Kingfisher Red and focus only on the premium Kingfisher Class. So, what about the Rs.1,000 crores he spent on Air Deccan? Swept under the carpet. What about the killing of a successful low-cost airline concept? Flushed down the toilet.
Importantly, what has all this done to the premium Kingfisher brand image? Royally screwed…….. Mallya style!
But this article is not about beer. This is not even about someone having beer. This is about a beer that had one too many. Brand extensions, that is.
I am talking about Kingfisher Airlines. This strong beer brand had painstakingly frothed up enough sales to become the leader. And what does its princely owner, Mr. Mallya, do? He extends its name to an airline he launches with much fanfare.
Why name an airline Kingfisher to fly high. A few Kingfisher bottles would have done that happily! Never mind.
Kingfisher is ‘the king of good times’. Kingfisher Airlines is ‘fun in the sky’. Screw No.1.
And then Mr. Mallya goes out and buys Air Deccan – an extremely successful low cost airline till then – for around Rs.1,000 crores and renames it Kingfisher Red. Why? Maybe he wanted multiples! Who said men can’t?
Kingfisher Class is the premium airline. Kingfisher Red is the low cost one. Clearly distinctive offerings; to satisfy the flying urge of a growing nation. Another of those marketing theories preached in all business schools and academic books with disastrous results.
But the consumer has other plans. He looks at things a wee bit differently. Kingfisher is beer. He found Kingfisher Airlines a bit too strong to his liking. Even worse, Kingfisher is premium. And when you dilute that by extending the name to a low cost product – even if it’s an airline - the consumer is not willing to gulp any of it.
Need proof? Accumulated losses of Kingfisher Airlines are a staggering Rs. 5,000 crores and its total debt a stunning Rs. 6,000 crores. If I am not mistaken, that’s a lot of money and a lot of losses. Enough to give a spectacular hangover!
Before you say all airlines are bleeding, I would like to point out two things: One, in a capital intensive industry like airlines, I agree it takes times to break even. Yet, Spice Jet, Indigo and Go Air are on the ascent and can see light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Two, Jet Airways used to be profitable till they too were bitten by the extension bug and launched Jet Lite, Jet Connect apart from its flagship Jet Airways. And flew into turbulence ever since. That nasty cold called extension causing the sneeze again!
Coming back to Kingfisher, Mr. Mallya has now decided to kill Kingfisher Red and focus only on the premium Kingfisher Class. So, what about the Rs.1,000 crores he spent on Air Deccan? Swept under the carpet. What about the killing of a successful low-cost airline concept? Flushed down the toilet.
Importantly, what has all this done to the premium Kingfisher brand image? Royally screwed…….. Mallya style!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)