Monday, April 30, 2018

OBQ 1134: Replacing the old guard.

He replaced one of the longest tenured executive of this company to become the new CEO.
He now overseas an empire straddling in various categories and industries and investor expect this to be more than a change of guard.

Who is he and which company he leads?

Answer: Sanjiv Puri the man who leads ITC

Saturday, April 28, 2018

OBQ 1133: Animal spirits in check!

In capitalism its important to keep a check on Animal spirits of the Capitalists, and then there are companies who are trusted to do so.
Here is one company who has mostly succeeded in that mission, in some instances it faltered but in some instances it generated alumni that bolstered its image.

Connect to a giant of sorts.

Answer: PwC
  

Thursday, April 26, 2018

OBQ 1132: The little green man

Once a symbol that divided a country now this symbol is loved by everyone in  its country of origin, and some cuteness level ensure that it does well on merchandise trade.

What is this symbol called and which country would associate it with?

Answer: Ampelamannchen which has almost become symbol for Germany

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

OBQ 1131: Back to India via Dubai.

Sometime we tend to ignore the local talent but when they make waves on a foreign land we whole heartedly accept that, just think about Satya Nadella or Sundar Pichai.

This man belongs to the same league though he is just not the top man of a big company but he started it from scratch.

Who is he?

Answer: Mickey Jagtiani the owner of Landmark retail

Saturday, April 21, 2018

OBQ 1130: The iron lady.

When the big shots of world's most powerful companies (Google, Apple, Facebook) get nightmares, many of them are caused by this lady. She is leading the charge of questioning and punishing relentless profiteering of some of the biggest companies, who with their band of lawyers break international laws with impunity.

Who is this modern day vigilante?

Answer: Margrethe Vestager who has caused some serious trouble for the big boys

Thursday, April 19, 2018

OBQ 1129: Re-purposing the club

Nope, this is no Men's club being repurposed! Its a club in a commercial sense which has millions of member in USA, lately its parent company is repurposing some of its premises to fulfill change in its overall business strategy.

Identify the logo of the company which is tribute to its founder.

Answer: Sam's Club

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

OBQ 1128: Hostile henchman

He is feared and loathed by some but respected by everyone for his relentless deal making skills. Some see him even as henchman of the US president, here is just a group of brands that have seen his impact.

Who is he?

Answer: Carl Icahn 

Sunday, April 15, 2018

OBQ 1127: Creative, Controversial and Costly

These are three very different ad for very different kind of products from different times, the all have one more thing in common apart from being creative, controversial and costly.

Tell me that one more thing/event/platform that connects all these highly engaging advertisement campaigns.

Answer: Superbowl ads

Friday, April 13, 2018

OBQ 1126: Dragon of the walled Garden.

Many say the Chinese government policies to shutout competition has greatly benefited this Chinese behemoth, though lately is coming out of its walled garden and trying to gain global influence my making some big investments world over.

Connect these images to a Chinese company which is now more of a conglomerate.

Answer:Tencent

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

OBQ 1125: The big green.

In India agriculture is associated with drudgery and debt however this company from USA has found the sweetspot in the green business and has managed to stay in pink of its health throughout its history of 175+ years.

identify the company from its logo.

Answer: Dole

Monday, April 9, 2018

OBQ 1124: White goods for all

Its rare that a village becomes identity of a product and that product goes on to become the identity of a company. Though this company derives less than half of its revenue from this product its identity is strongly linked to it.

Identify the company that has its presence in each Indian household and not restricted to kitchen any more.

Answer: Tata Chemical

Saturday, April 7, 2018

OBQ 1123: The publication czars.

They are quintessentially the 21st century publication czars, which means that they get a lot published but dont own a single printing press or any editorial staff and yes they also dont compete with traditional publication houses like Penguin or Random House.

Yet they enable everyone to exercise their "freedom of expression".

Who are they and what did they start?

Answer: Founders of wordpress

Thursday, April 5, 2018

OBQ 1122: Losing the score?

Started at the height of dotcom boom, this company did well by measuring the web traffic of the biggest companies during the clicks arms race, however in last few years it has struggled to please stock exchanges and investors and might lose its right to score!

Identify the company from its logo.

Answer: Comscore

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

OBQ 1121: Disruptor on a shoestring.

Well before it was cool to do so this man disrupted so many ideas of running a business, like giving stock options to employee, to hiring private jets, he is also credited with coming up with psychological price points ending with 9s (like 19.99) and for being the first to bring mass production practices in Europe.

No doubt then that he started on a shoe string but ended up creating a brand that will soon celebrate 125 years of its existence.

Who is he?

Answer: He is Tomas Bata, the founder of eponymous shoe company. 

Sunday, April 1, 2018

OBQ 1120: The late bloomers

While most Indian business houses took big advantage of opening of Indian economy in 90s, this conglomerate with presence from commodities to IT and entertainment to energy was bit stuck in the past.

In last decade or so they have seen a bit of a late bloom which they would hope is not too late.

Connect these images to a business family/group.

Answer: RP Sanjeev Goenka group