What role does 'HOPE' play in communication?

Emotional maturity can be defined as the response of a Brand when faced with tough decisions that help it remain emotionally poised and balanced, acting with self-faith, and appreciative of the other’s point of view.  

Hope is an energy filled emotion that works when the chips are completely down – the more despondent the state, the more necessary Hope becomes. Generated through self-led positivity, Hope is optimism without disguise – that allows a Brand to collect itself and have a goal, even when everything seems to be lost. Hope also keeps focus on the future and takes attention away from problems. 

It is a healing emotion that spreads fast socially and creates a sense of positivity in everyone it touches. Hope, in one sense, is one of the most vital, self-triggered emotions that everyone silently desires. When communication feeds Hope, it makes the audience believe, even though the circumstances may seem impossible.

When communication messages carry 'Hope' in them, they turn audiences into anticipated positivity. If a Brand wants to generate emotional appeal, its communication must transfer hope to its audiences. 

(extract from forthcoming book 'Decoding Communication')

Book Review: Deejay (Deepak Jayaram), Managing Partner, Dialect (Group M)

Deepak Jayaram (Deejay)
Managing Partner
Dialect (Group M)

"Decoding Communication is an absorbing treatise on the evolution of communication through the lens of psychology, sociology and anthropology. It shows the importance of  our approach to effective communications, so important in an age of instant social-media reactions. A necessary read for those who see their calling in the communications industry."  

 

Arjun Balakrishnan, Director, Panasonic, on Decoding Communication

Arjun Balakrishnan,
Director, Panasonic India

"Congratulations to Chandramouli on pathbreaking analysis and content in Decoding Communication.  There is no question that it is a brilliantand insightful analysis that draws on  Anthropology, Cognition and Intelligence. In other words,your book seeks to reflect the correlation between communication and the truth.

Outstanding work! It is really for the student of communication as well as for the CEO."

Ashish Bhasin, Chairman (India) Aegis Plc. reviews Decoding Communication

Ashish Bhasin is the Chairman (India) and CEO (South Asia) of Aegis Plc. Before this he was has been a Lintas veteran for 21 years. 

Ashish Bhasin, Chairman (India)
Aegis Plc.

"Decoding Communication by Chandramouli, is a good treatise on the often partially understood process of Communication. It is quite strange that while we have over 600 advertising agencies and over 250000 people employed by the advertising, marketing & communication businesses in India, we don’t have sufficient literature. To that effect Chandramouli’s efforts are laudatory and will help the industry.

What I liked about Decoding Communication is that Chandramouli covers a wide spectrum of the different facets of communication, including propaganda, public relations and brand appeal. His past studies on the Trust aspect of brands has enabled him to throw light on Trust. Infact two chapters are devoted to Trust and how it impacts both brands and businesses.

I would very much recommend Decoding Communication to students, practitioners and proponents of the Advertising & Marketing Communication world, as a good starting point for gaining insights on a topic that is more complex than what it appears from outside."

About Aegis

Aegis Group plc is a global media and digital marketing communications group. Aegis plc has two operating businesses, Aegis Media (Carat, Vizeum, Posterscope, Isobar and iProspect) and Aztec, the scan-based market and consumer insights company. Aegis Group plc shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Aegis media has 5 media companies under the group - Carat, Isobar, Vizeum, Posterscope and iProspect.

How to add Rational Appeal to your brand?

Humans are known to have higher cognitive abilities - a mental process of knowledge acquisition based on awareness, reasoning, judgment and perception. Rational is a bridge that helps us arrive at the truth. It helps in cognitive judgment and is a necessary part of every decision making process. When communication is based on the rational, it appeals to the cognitive intellect of the audiences, demonstrating infallibly, reason to believe. 

Quad erat demonstrandum (latin for which was to be demonstrated) is a statement made at the end of mathematical proofs or philosophical arguments. This is the way one must approach rational communication as well - beginning with an initial premise. The communication that a Brand makes must be logically deduced, demonstrating the sought conclusion. 

Logic appeals to intrinsic proofs of reasoning and extrinsic proofs through demonstration (as in testimony, eye-witnesses) but it must conclusively and unambiguously show the result as demonstrated. However, if Rational is used too directly, it may alienate the audiences and despite it being an extraordinary tool, it must be used in conjunction with other appeals to create  the natural attractive forces of a brand. 

(Extract from the chapter titled 'Attractive Forces of a Brand' from Decoding Communication)

Book Review: Murugavel Janakiraman, Chairman, Consim Group (Bharatmatrimony.com)

Murugavel Janakiraman
CHAIRMAN, CONSIM GROUP
(Bharatmatrimony.com, Indiaproperty.com,
Clickjobs.com)

" Chandramouli has done a masterful job of 'decoding communication' in his new book by the same name. With a good balance of theory and practice, he provides readers with an insightful introduction to the development of communication theories while covering a range of issues of significance to businesses of all types. It is particularly strong in offering an account of the development of major theoretical approaches in communication and its applicability in business.

As John Wanamaker put it and quoted by Chandramouli, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half." Wanamaker may well have been speaking for most marketers today. Innovative and useful products fail, organizations are unable to align vision, investors are quickly disheartened and seek exit - and all this and more, not because what organizations created was wrong, argues Chandramouli. Most times it is because organizations could not effectively communicate their service, vision, product benefits correctly, or because they totally misunderstood their audiences.

Chandramouli looks at some of the key reasons why communication has become so wasteful and has degenerated into a system without accountability in many companies. Therefore, every communication, the basis of all the internal and external relationships a business manages, he exhorts, should be based on Sustainable Communication. He goes on to describe that organizational winning strategy and offers six simple steps to help create a Sustainable Communication system in any organization.

The chapters on Propaganda and Public Relations are particularly interesting, which is not surprising considering that Chandramouli is a veteran and highly successful PR professional in India. He writes that PR is the only communication tool that was created for the sake of the public in response to their needs, facilitating "public understanding and acceptance".

Public Relations not only communicates but guides how to communicate, preparing the organization to a lifestyle that would be no less than spiritual. Public Relations thus brings the organization and its society into harmony.

Elsewhere in the book, Chandramouli draws on his nuanced understanding of Greek history to talk authoritatively on the holy trinity of persuasion, namely Ethos, Pathos and Logos, that has helped lay the foundation in the study of communication and positive persuasion. On these three pillars rest the perfect persuasion and a persuasive communication strategy.

Decoding Communication indeed provides a detailed analysis of the historical, scientific, critical and cultural questions at the foundation of communication theories and practice. It is a book that will prove to be essential text for communication professionals  as well as students and all those interested in the art of communication".

New times, new leaders, new rules

As a corollary to the indispensable nature of internet, the icons of technology are the unexpected heroes of our times, and names like Mark Zukerberg, Reid Hoffman and Jack Dorsey are the new conversation starters. These times are filled with greater flux than any time before it, and at the core of all this rapid change is fast communication and instant information.

In such fast-changing times, the role of an organizational leader has become precarious. The experience and education one garners through the years has been rendered ineffectual in most circumstances. The decision maker’s challenges are compounded as he makes sense of everyday environmental upheavals, with a capacity to change business topographies overnight. To seek opportunities and avert threats in such an environment is no easy task.

Despite this, there cannot be a better time for business than this. The fortuity hidden in this chaos are immense, as are the rewards of navigating a smooth course through this turbulence. Though the excitement and the challenges of this are commensurate, one thing that can be said in favor of the now is that the rewards of success can be quite unpredictable, and even unimaginable.  

(written in October 2010 and is a part of the forthcoming book Decoding Communications)

Sunil Gautam, Founder, Hanmer MSL, articulates his thoughts on Decoding Communication

Articulation may be its core, but try defining communication and most people are at a loss for words. Understanding communication is even tough. I should know; I’ve been in the business for decades!

Sunil Gautam
Founder, Hanmer MSL

Years ago, when India’s communication industry was taking baby steps, nobody thought it would take the strides that it eventually did. Today, the industry is worth millions of dollars and marketing messages are in your face no matter where you go and what media you consume – billboards dot every pavement, there is advertising on buses and trains, and the internet, TV and mobile phone are all carriers of commercial messages.

The importance of effective communication is now immeasurable in business and in personal life.

Surprisingly, then, few books on the subject have been written by Indian authors. Rather, I should say, not too many good books have been written on the subject by Indian authors. Most of them read like boring textbooks, offering few insights or fresh perspectives.

This is where Chandramouli’s ‘Decoding Communication’ scores. A treatise, it studies the foundation of communication, the projection of trust and the need for businesses to tell their stories effectively. It engages and fascinates in equal parts.

It explains why communication is more than the mere transmission of a message from sender to receiver. From a brand perspective, it is often the difference between success and failure. What else is a brand if not “the manifestation of an idea”? 

It is clear to us in the industry that the manner in which businesses talk to stakeholders has a profound effect on quality, productivity, and – most importantly – on trust. The irony is that this is rarely conveyed effectively.

Decoding Communication succeeds where others have failed. Stressing that communication is a science, Chandramouli asserts that its “equilibrium” is not dependent on facts and logic alone. If it were, humans would be “little more than single-tracked, logic-blinkered, mechanical automatons”. Communication, then, is the sharing of a common meaning between sender and receiver. In other words, it is about persuasion. Effective communication leads to understanding, which in turn leads to trust – “the umbilical cord of every human connection”.

Any book by Chandramouli would be incomplete without a chapter on public relations (PR). After all, he founded Blue Lotus Communication – which has made a mark in PR for technology, healthcare and finance firms – and i9 Communication, a fast-growing PR firm in the lifestyle and entertainment space.

Chandramouli hits the nail on the head when he says, “Tell it, don’t sell it.” He points out that PR is an “attitude” that forges trust, and story-telling is the best communication approach.

What it boils down to is the communication process. Understand that and you will become an effective communicator. And, it’s the effective communicators that usually succeed.

Is ‘Decoding Communication’ recommended reading? Let me communicate this as effectively as I can: Yes."

Review of Decoding Communication by Anuradha Das, Founder & Director, 9dot9

Anuradha studied economics at LSR and Trinity College and she has an agenda to build new businesses at 9.9. She led the research and advisory business for the Indian affiliate of the Economist Intelligence Unit for almost 12 years. Most recently, she headed Businessworld and launched a series of business intelligence services for the magazine. 

Anuradha Das Mathur

FOUNDER & DIRECTOR

9.9 Media

“ Decoding Communication offers a whole new vocabulary on the concept of communication and related issues. While it is replete with deep insights for anyone who wants to understand the art, the science and the philosophy of communication, it is equally relevant for life lessons – well beyond simply pursuing a profession in communication. Thought provoking and a ‘must read’..."

About 9.9 Media 

9.9 is a leading media house that has  been programmed into five businesses, 9.9 Insights, 9.9 Digital, 9.9 Print, 9.9 Ventures and 9.9 Studio.  It started in 2007 with the acquisition of the Jasubhai Meida Group with several leading  publications such as Digit, Skoar, The CTO Forum, Logistics 2.0 and Industry 2.0.

How to generate Emotional Appeal

Emotions are loudspeakers of experiences, thoughts, culture, perceptions, environment and disposition, and they work to amplify all these through a ‘remembered’ association of feelings. An emotion may arise from an action (like a good joke that leads to laughter, giving joy as its consequence), a memory (the feeling of sadness when you think of the recent death of someone dear), cultural orientation (eating dog-meat is repulsive in most cultures, but considered delectable in a few), thoughts (just the thought of meeting your loved ones would bring joy), environment (one may feel sad by listening to melancholic music) and disposition (a person with an unhappy disposition will feel unhappy even without reason).

Emotions generate feelings - deep-rooted physiological and psychological sensations that help relate, adapt or cope with any situation. They could be conscious or sub-conscious but emotions are essential in managing our personal outlook of situations, inducing social behavior. They also help by grading communication into distinct expressions which can be understood easily (like a smile, frown, aggression, amusement, or the common ‘meeting-room’ expression, boredom).

To explain how to use Emotion in the context of a brand we use a generalization that will attempt to combine emotional responses into three basics which arouse positive appeal. Though it is commonly (and simplistically) assumed that the use of Emotional Appeal implies communicating using emotions like fear, joy, happiness, sadness, shame among others. This is the use of emotions in communications, not generating Emotional Appeal. Generating Emotional Appeal requires using three basics, Positivity, Emotional Maturity and Hope, that are most likely to lead to positive reactions in the audiences.

(extract from the forthcoming book Decoding Communication)

M. G. Arun, Bureau Chief, Indian Express reviews Decoding Communications

M.G. Arun (or MG) , is the Bureau Chief with The Financial Express since 2000. He is a veteran journalist and was with the Jasubhai Media Group for two years before that. 


Here's what he says about Decoding Communications: 


"Great effort! That's what I would like to tell you in short about the book.  It reflects painstaking research, a scientific attempt to decode communications and the various factors that make it work. At the same time, you have thrown in enough examples, anecdotes and instances that makes it an interesting read. It's not a book to read once and keep away. The research that's gone behind it should make it a good reference for professionals and starters alike. 

I am thrilled by these sentences:

Understanding trust is like understanding the DNA of relationships, as it gives an insight into the relationship between humans and everything else. Trust is like the universal platform of human engagement - understand it, and you will realize that it is the umbilical cord of every human connection.
----
The current day concept of focused communication (promotion) is, ‘Don’t tell it. Sell it’. Good communications, however, works towards idea acceptance. The more natural this process is, the better the acceptance. Therefore it should not seem or be forced. If an idea
has to be well communicated, the rule to use is quite the opposite, “Don’t sell it. Tell it.”
----

I totally agree. Trust is the essence of great communication. And great communication is all about understanding and empathy. Only trust, supported by values and uncompromising quality, can nourish empathy and understanding.

I liked your comment about people proclaiming to be "most trusted", when they have hardly created an awareness. They should learn from some household brands like Dettol, Godrej locks, Gillette blades, Vicks Vaporub. I trust them because my Dad trusted them too, I trust them because I know they are unique in that space, it's difficult for me to think of an alternative, and an alternative product would be far too 'inferior'. Advertising, huge retail push, product novelty - many things would have contributed for getting my 'mindshare', but then, there is one unique element that distinguish them - these brands have lived up to my trust - consistently. That's no communication gimmick. That's a great effort to provide that unflinching quality, over decades.

I do hope organisations realise that before they splurge on advertisements and promotions to be 'known' and 'trusted' by all! "

What attributes should Ethos, Pathos and Logos messages have?

(Extract from the forthcoming book Decoding Communications)

Book review: Preeti Vyas, Chairwoman of Vyas Giannetti Creative on Decoding Communications

VGC has garnered many accolades since its inception a decade ago. It was ranked as the top 10 design agencies in India  by Economic Times. VGC is also a prominent case study in Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad.

"Decoding Communications has been a great read. The parallels drawn between the evolution of human communication and the subsequent evolution of the communications media help setup what is an absorbing read for anyone looking to get a clear idea on the communications industry.

I do feel that students and professionals will especially enjoy reading this as it really helps the reader understand the many facets of communications and branding and does justice to each speciality. This book is a great example of demystifying communications. Simple, straightforward and downright logical."

Preeti Vyas, Chairwoman of Vyas Giannetti Creative, is widely regarded as one of India’ s foremost creative minds. In 1997 VGC was launched by her with the aim to transform the marketplace using Strategic Design and Communication solutions.

Preeti says ‘Only that design which is good for your business is good design. And we call it Designomics’

Her many achievements include: A member of the India Design Council, she is named as one of the leading creative minds of India by an Economic Times Report, she is ranked amongst India's Greatest Brand Builders by CMO Asia. Amongst the 25 most powerful women in India by Business Today. Amongst the 50 most influential women by Verve magazine. Award winning supporter of women entrepreneurs. Jury member at Cannes, New York Advertising Festival and Sri Lanka’ s first International creative awards. Indian representative at Indian Creative Showcase at Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Book Review: Mitch Kent, Global PR Head, Hay Group

The Hay Group is a consultancy that operates from 47 countries and has 2700 employees globally. It offers organizational and human resources consulting services; it helps its clients design organizational structures that are in line with business strategy, clarify roles and responsibilities, develop and retain talented leaders, measure the value of various kinds of work, and set up effective performance management processes.  The firm was founded in 1943 as Edward N. Hay and Associates. (www.haygroup.com)

Mitch Kent,
Global PR Head,
Hay Group

"Chandramouli has written a fascinating book about both the evolution of communications in humans and how that evolution has manifested itself in today’s world.  He understands well how consumers choose the brands they choose and how the art of effectively telling a story is one of the most powerful selling tools available today."

Do you really understand Reputation?

Reputation can be defined as the effectiveness of a transmitted belief of respect about anything, be it a person, product, service, brand or organization.  This transmitted belief has an inherent power (like a wireless signal) and the distance of transmission depends on the strength of the reputation signal. 

"Reputation is the effectiveness of a
transmitted  belief of respect"

Respect, the underlying attitude or feeling behind Reputation, is expressed from the subject to the object that demonstrates the subject’s appropriate regard of value for the object, its circumstance, its reaction or intent. 

Reputation depends on action. Action that has repeatedly demonstrated positive outcomes and results, derived through consistent action and unfailing effort.   

Reputation depends on ability. It is the ability to complete a particular task with abnormally spectacular results consistently. 

Reputation depends on performance, the type of performance that shows high quality of results, and the improvement in each subsequent act. 

Reputation depends on exceeding expectations of the audiences and fulfilling evolving and increasing needs of the audiences. 

All these four aspects of Reputation lead to a response of respect and admiration by the audience - aspirational qualities that the audience itself tries to emulate. While based on the intrinsic nature of the entity, Reputation is only built when these attributes are transmitted, reaching new audiences and reinforcing messages to the existing ones.

Reputation is among the most difficult achievements, because the transmitters of others’ respect stake their own reputation on the line in the act of transmission. 

(Extract from the forthcoming book 'Decoding Communications')

Gourab Banerji, Additional Solicitor General of India, on Decoding Communications

"I have read Decoding Communications with profit and with interest.

Gourab Banerji

ADDITIONAL SOLICITOR GENERAL OF INDIA

It combines a theoretical basis for understanding communication with practical insights. It ought to be required reading for anyone in public life."

Understanding 'Popularity' better

(extract from the forthcoming book, Decoding Communications)

A person is said to be popular when that person is perceived as attractive or pleasant, and is widely liked. Popularity is used as a proxy for the publics’ estimate of one’s perceived social rank, and it builds from aspects discussed earlier, like self-worth, self-confidence and achievement. Brands, people, companies, children, even animals, actively seek social inclusion or popularity, and a ‘higher’ social rank. 

The importance of Popularity is reinforced in early childhood, especially in school, where Popularity means implicit inclusion. The other benefits of being popular are also quite evident which include friends, liking, positive reinforcement, building self-confidence. The lack of popularity brings the pain of social exclusion, and being subject to social-meanness or relational aggression, seen most in children who many times tend to be cruel without realizing it (and also in several adults who display aggressive social behavior).

When enough people have a strong positive attraction towards a Brand, it gains ‘Popularity’. A Brand’s memetic acceptance by a significant many, makes it Popular. However, Popularity, this social rank accorded by the audience, keeps changing as it is constantly being re-evaluated. Small wrong actions or even inaction (where action was expected) can diminish Popularity significantly. The key to building Popularity lies in appropriately creating and communicating the Brand Appeal, the intrinsic attraction-quotient that every Brand processes. 

(to know more on such subjects, please follow this blog)

Vinod Nair, MD, Network Advertising on Decoding Communications

[Network Advertising is an independent agency which has handled several prestigious clients. It believes in being the 'most respected agency'. Vinod Nair, heads the agency.]

Vinod Nair
Managing Director
Network Advertising

"Having spent over two decades in the wonderful world of communication and brand building, it is now evident to me that there is nothing exact in this field. Chandramouli’s book however is a fantastic attempt at demystifying the process of building a great brand. A brand as he says is the ‘manifestation of an idea’. Decoding Communications is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the process and the discipline of brand building – right from the stage of the conception of the brand idea to its nurturing over its entire lifecycle. It will not only provide valuable insights to the newbies, but also help get fresher perspectives to the experts in the field."

Final cover of Decoding Communications (fresh from the designer's desk)

Final cover design of Decoding Communications

Sam Balsara's (Chairman and Managing Director, Madison Group) review of Decoding Communications

[Madison World is a 24-year old diversified communication group, with 24 units across 10 specialized functions of Advertising, Media, Business Analytics, Out-Of-Home, PR, Rural, Retail, Entertainment, Mobile and Sports; employing over 1,000 communication professional across cities in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The gross billing of Madison World is Rs. 30 billion.]

Sam Balsara

CHAIRMAN AND MANAGING DIRECTOR

MADISON GROUP

“Decoding Communications is an excellent read for both students and practitioners of communication. It helps provide a conceptual framework to better understand what we do intuitively and why it works and sometimes doesn't. Chandramouli needs to be complimented on coming up with this alongside running two successful companies. The purpose of all business is to create 'Trust' and if it succeeds in doing that, business succeeds.”

Probir Roy, Co-Founder Paymate, reviews Decoding Communications

PayMate is a Mumbai based wireless transactions platform provider founded by entrepreneurs Ajay Adiseshann and Probir Roy. PayMate is funded by Venture Capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Sherpalo Ventures and Mayfield Fund. Some companies that are a part of their portfolios are Google, AOL, Amazon, Sun Microsystems and SanDisk among others. PayMate has offices in India, USA, Sri Lanka, Nepal and UAE making it the single largest M- Commerce company in the sub continent, offering customized mobile payment solutions in each market with local partners. 

Probir Roy, Co-Founder, Paymate

“In the dynamic business environment of today where perception is often mistaken for reality. Chandramouli provides a ready-reckoner for the corporate chieftain to remain honest to the latter.

Peers, clients, practioners and students who read this will not only learn about communications and brand building, but also about themselves. A Must Read”.

Attitudes in Trust

Our attitudes of Trust result from an intricate mix of instinct, perception and learned behavior, paradigms of which start developing just after birth. A child’s model for intimate relationships and trust begins with the love and affection demonstrated to it by the parents and others. The importance of instinctive responses of a mother cooing to the infant, or the parental response to the child’s failure, in building trust cannot be understated. These are the building blocks of creating a trusting attitude (or a lack of it) in the child and become the base for all future social interactions as the child grows. The act of ‘play’, one of the most important instructive tools for children, is also an important social school for the child, helping seed Trust in the child beyond the ‘known-and-comfortable’ family circle.

Trust is like a river, and its continuous flow is necessary for the trust bond to remain intact without drying up. Like water, Trust moves through paths of least resistance in the relationship and minute drops of Trust coalesce over time adding to the cascade. Once the critical-mass of flow is achieved, Trust becomes a living force, capable of auto-generating ‘life’ in the relationship. Since a constant flow is needed for trust to exist, Trust requires continuous replenishment, without which it will gradually dry up. Building trust is less an act of creating, and more an act of ‘accumulation’ as it crosses the barriers (of mistrust and doubt) transforming it to a strong and table bond.

So why does a trustor take such an enormous risk of making himself  'vulnerable' with no immediate and tangible payback?

Though it defies logic, there seems to be a natural tendency in the trustor to accept this vulnerability ignoring innate drives of self-preservation. In fact, if Trust were not among the most important aspects necessary for life and community behavior, it might not have become so indispensable and prevalent. 

Like everything else, the act of Trusting has its benefits and disadvantages. Though Trust makes one vulnerable, it visibly increases the trustor’s chances of survival and propagation of the individual as well as the community at large. 

(extract from the forthcoming book 'Decoding Communications')

John Goodman President, Ogilvy Action Asia Pacific & Regional Director, Ogilvy & Mather on Decoding Communications

Ogilvy Action is the World's largest activation agency and John is an Ogilvy veteran having worked in London, Prague, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tokyo and Bangkok during his 21 years with the agency. His experience crosses all core communications disciplines, and he has worked with almost every major international client on the Ogilvy roster.

John Goodman, President,
Ogilvy Action (Asia-Pacific),
Regional Director, Ogilvy & Mather

"Congratulations to Chandramouli on this valuable contribution to modern marketing communications...people will find it valuable."

Dr. Ajai Singh's (Master Leadership Coach) review for Decoding Communications

Dr. Ajai Singh, Leadership Coach

Dr. Ajai Singh is a Master Leadership Coach. He is currently the CEO of Organizational Transformation International and Principal Consultant and Coach at Shamrock Training Consultants. Earlier to this he was the Managing Director at Achieve Global, India and CEO, Modi Entertainment. 


Dr. Singh says about Decoding Communications: 

"For someone who has been actively coaching and involved in people development over the last decade I found Decoding Communications with comprehensive and practical insights for one and all. Every reader will benefit from what Chandramouli has written and be able to  apply it easily in business and personal life.

A must read and possess."

Must-know words

There are several words that we must know and don't and there are others we think we know 

and unfortunately don't. 


The only solution is to know them. Some of these are everyday words like brand and trust which we
use at least a few times a day, others are important concepts in communications like brand-levity and 
anthropomorphism, the knowledge of which can add tremendously to better communications. 

Many of these deserve to be even copied for regular viewing! 

 I am sorry about any formatting problems that you may see . I tried this thrice but it always 

had some problems. Kindly excuse any misalignment. 

WORDS YOU MUST KNOW

(These words and concepts are extracted from the forthcoming book Decoding Communications.)

- anthropomorphism      attribution of human characteristics or behavior to inanimate objects,    

                                   animals, or natural phenomena

- aspirational appeal the intrinsic attractiveness of anything due to its ability to fulfill innate   

                                   desires

- atomic                      present in every cell of the brand

- brand                       the soul of an idea, entity or being

- brand appeal           inherent attractiveness of a brand

- brand custodian      legal owner of the brand

- brand extremism     brands which follow extremist views on idea acceptance and intermixing

- Brand Trust Report  a primary research report based on the Trust Matrix

- brand-levity            the forces which allow a brand to automatically grow (naturally 

                                  opposed to the downward gravitational pull)

- buying propensity  inclination to buy

- carrier-owners      carriers, who also own the idea by virtue of carrying and 

                                 transmitting them

- chance                   randomness and unpredictability in anything

- communication      a five stage maturity model of organization with regard to

   maturity model      communications

- communications     the innate attractiveness of something due to its external, visible and 

  appeal                     cognitive quotient

- critical mass          the ‘mass’ at which auto-triggering occurs

- culture                   collective psychology as set by rules, norms and behavior patterns of a 

                                 community

- dopamine               a reward neurotransmitter released by the brain signaling                                                           

                                 'I-want-more’

- ease of                   a primary component of trust derived when a entity displays a welcome   

   approachability    behavior

- emotional appeal  the intrinsic attractiveness of something due to its emotional                                                     

                                 quotient

- emotions                involuntary, subliminal human responses

- endorphins            a neurotransmitter that signals a feeling of well-being

- ethos                      ethics, as propounded by Aristotle in his book, Rhetoric

- externality             that which an entity considers outside the scope of its impact

- goal achievement  desired positive outcome; a driver of human behavior

- icons                      semiotic classification, represents physical resemblance to objects

- idea-chain             the interdependence of ideas, an idea linked to its source and the source 

                                 linked to its source and so on (similar to a food chain)

- idea-extremism      an idea which is fundamentally based on the extermination of other                                                 

                                 ideas

- idea-web                an interwoven web of idea-chains

- indices                   semiotic classification, represents time-space or part-whole contiguity of objects

- internality             that which an entity considers to be impacting (sphere of impact)

- linguistics             study of the human faculty of language

- logos                     logic, as propounded by Aristotle in his book, Rhetoric

- meme                     coded informational unit of thoughts and ideas analogous to the gene

- memetic integrity  a brands integrity to its core proposition

- meta                       beyond the self

- meta-cognition      thinking about thinking

- metaphor               a language usage of explanation by naming something it is not

- metonyms              a word used to substitute other

- mirror neuron       neurons which facilitate imitation in humans

- morphosyntactic   rules that govern linguistic units defined by morphology and syntax 

- My-way strategy   a template or approach to create one’s own unique strategy

- neural learning     the ability of neurons to learn and adapt

- non-consuming      the audience which has very low probability of consuming the entity’s  

  audience                produce

- pathos                    emotion, as propounded by Aristotle in his book, Rhetoric

- phonology              the sound system of a language

- popularity              a brand’s memetic acceptance by significant many

- propaganda           communication aimed at influencing towards a cause

- rational appeal     the inherent logical attractiveness of anything

- reputation             effectiveness of transmitted belief of respect

- resilience              a combination of factors that include adaptability, competence and ability

- rhetor                    public speaker, in ancient Greece

- rhetoric                 ancient Greek art of discourse

- self-esteem            a person’s self-evaluation of his own worth; a driver of human behavior

- semantics               meaning and interpretation of the form of language

- semiotics                science of signs and symbols

- sigma bonds           covalent chemical bond of the strongest type between two atoms;  used in 
                                  chemistry

- social calibration   a personal metric of social hierarchy

- social inclusion      the intrinsic human need to be a part of a social hierarchy; a driver of 

                                  human behavior

- social worth           a person’s relative evaluation of own worth in comparison to others

- spandrel                 characteristic developed as a by-product of an evolved brain

- string theory           universal theory applicable to all things

- sustainable             self-generative, efficient, low waste communications

  communications

- symbols                  semiotic classification, based on social convention or implicit agreement

- syntax                     rules, grammar

- transactional factor an attribute related to the transaction or exchange

- trust                        degree of believability of anything

- Trust Matrix           a matrix of the 61-primary ingredients of trust

- trust paradox          the self-contradicting enigma that states, “if any entity solely focuses on 

                                  building trust, it will lose it in the long run.”

- trustee                    on which trust is bestowed

- trust-lag                 the time lag between the act of trust and trustor belief

- trustor                    one who trusts

- unidimensionality  a related attribute most relevant for trust to be conferred                        

- unidirectionality    degree of interdependence between the trustor and trustee

- unintended              the unforeseen, unknown, but positive consequences that a brand begets                                                      

  consequences          

- utils                         a economic measure of the utility