Business trivia
The Peter Principle is a book by Laurence J. Peter (a
former teacher) and Raymond Hull (a playwright). The
root of the entire book, the condition of incompetence
that Peter called "Final Placement Syndrome," leads
some to develop "Abnormal Tabulology" (an "unusual
and highly significant arrangement of his desk"). This
pathology is manifested, for example, in "Tabulatory
Gigantism" (an obsession with having a bigger desk than
his colleagues). The "Teeter-Totter Syndrome" refers
to "a complete inability to make decisions" and
"Cachinatory Inertia" means "the habit of telling jokes
instead of getting on with business".
Campbell Soup brand's cherry red and bright white colour scheme was adopted because
an executive Herberton Williams liked the similar colour scheme was used in the
Cornell university football team's uniforms.
"Begin your own tradition" is the punch line of Patek Philippe.
Born on October 15, 1949, Prannoy Roy completed his schooling from the Doon School.
Associated with the Ministry of Finance, Government of India as Economic Advisor
from 1985-87, he is one of the prominent anchorpersons in India.
Oracle was named after a code name for a CIA project that its founder was working on
before founding this company.
The unit of hype is named after the 20th century American artist Andy Warhol. The unit
is named after him because of a statement–"In the future, everybody will have 15
minutes of fame" made in 1968.
Mickey refers to the smallest detectable movement of a computer mouse.
Volkswagen brand Golf gets its name from the German word for 'gulf stream'.
(c)Brain is considered the first computer virus for the PC. It was written by two
brothers in Lahore, Pakistan to protect their medical software from piracy.
Dr William Gaud of US Agency for International Development (USAID) coined the
term Green Revolution.
PSP in Sony's videogame console stands for Playstation Portable.
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Mitsubishi group company Asahi was founded in 1907 by Toshiya Iwasaki.
Billiards champion Geet Sethi set up the sports portals khel.com and kheladi.com.
Cosmopolis range of casuals were launched by John Players.
Riyaaz Amlani, founder of Mocha
Coffees & Conversations said the
following: "I was with a couple of friends
at Panchagini, a small hill station near
Mumbai. We were sitting there, listening
to music, drinking coffee and talking...
Then, someone said, if we could bottle this
moment, we would be very rich."
Saint Gobain originated as the French public enterprise Manufacture royale de glaces
de miroirs in 1665.
The name of social networking website Ibibo is said to stand for 'I build, I bond'.
The Uzi family of submachine guns, first issued in 1954, has been manufactured over its
lifetime mainly by Israel Military Industries and FN Herstal.
Sharekhan.com advertises itself as 'your guide to the financial jungle'.
Raymond Weil owns brands such as Amadeus, Parsifal, Don Giovanni and Othello, as
tributes to classical music, opera and theatre.
The letters 'TAG' in the name of the brand TAG Heuer, stand for a French phrase that
means 'technology that pushes the boundaries, and is radically innovative or different'.
Therefore, if the letter 'T' stands for 'techniques de' (or 'technology that is', what do the
letters AG stands for Avant-garde.
Currently serving on the Academic Advisory Board of Human Rights Watch (Asia),
Jagdish Bhagwati is also a Senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also
the recipient of the Padma Vibhushan award, 2000.
"You & Us" is the punch line of UBS.
Estilo car brand's name comes from the Spanish word for 'style'
Miura car was named after a Spanish ranch whose bulls have a proverbial attack
instinct.
Isleño is a Lamborghini automobile is named after a famous bull best known because it
gored and killed Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez 'Manolete', who was widely
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regarded as one of the greatest bullfighters ever. This widely mourned killing happened in
1947 in Linares, Spain.
Giorgio Armani designer originally trained in medicine before becoming a
photographer. He then was in the army, and subsequently worked in a department
store. He then worked as a designer, and in 1974, he established a menswear label.
"Watches for the few since 1971" is the punch line of Girard-Perregaux.
The name of Lamborghini model Espada comes from the Spanish word for 'sword'.
Deccan Chronicle newspaper, with seven editions in Andhra Pradesh and one in
Chennai, owns an IPL franchise that shares its initials–Deccan Chargers.
"Because change happenz" is the punch line of Zurich.
Jungle Gym is a piece of playground equipment for children that was invented in 1920
and was sold under a brand name that has currently become a generic term. Its initial
patent refers to the 'monkey instinct' of children, and claims the benefits of climbing as
exercise and play.
Charles Menches was selling ice cream and ran out of dishes on July 23 1904, during the
St. Louis World's fair. He therefore is said to have sought the help of the owner of the
stall next to his, who was selling a Middle Eastern delicacy called Zalabia. The result was
the invention of world's first Ice cream cone
Sundae ice-cream was created in response to the 'blue laws' that decreed that ice cream
soda could not be sold on Sundays.
1492 Productions is the movie production company of Chris Columbus.
Ice cream makers who wanted to sell frozen ice cream cones faced the problem of the ice
cream making the cone go soggy. The Italian manufacturer Spica invented a process
whereby the inside of the cone was insulated from the ice cream by a layer of oil, sugar
and chocolate. Spica registered this product as the Cornetto.
Equus is the Hyundai brand is named after a genus of animals that includes the horse.
"Our technology turns imagination into life" is the punch line of Samsung.
Tucson is the Hyundai SUV brand shares its name with a city in Pima County, Arizona.
Jetta brand was named after the Atlantic jetstream and the fact that this car affords the
luxury and power of a modern jetliner.
"A great way to fly" is the punch line of Singapore Airlines.
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According to a Time magazine article, his total wealth is one
multiplujillion, nine obsquatumatillion, six hundred twenty-three dollars
and sixty-two cents. According to a book by Don Rosa, his wealth is five
multiplujillion, nine impossibidillion, seven fantasticatrillion dollars and
sixteen cents. When he topped the Forbes list of richest people in fiction
in 2007, his wealth was estimated to be $28.8 billion. He is Richie Rich.
Roberto Rastapopulos is a fictional Greek-American tycoon in Tintin comics is the
owner of Cosmos Pictures. At two other points of time, he is also shown to be the head
of an opium cartel and a slave trader respectively.
Economics is a term that comes from the Greek word for 'household management'.
Wiki is a term used in the context of collaborative applications on the internet, comes
from the Hawaiian word for 'quick'.
One of the reasons for Zen car brand's name was that it was said to give zero engine
noise.
Alto car brand's name comes from the Spanish/Portuguese words for 'high'.
Hyundai brand i20 is advertised with the tagline 'i got it all'.
Jagdish Bhagwati is a University professor at Columbia University. His best known work
is 'In Defence of Globalization'.
The name of the company, Plan B, is (also) said to be a reference to the common first
name of the two founders– Brad Pitt. Brad Grey is the other founder.
"Drive your way" is the punch line of Hyundai.
Mohammad Yunus was an assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State
University, which position he left to be a member of Bangladesh's planning commission.
The title of the book 'Beyond the Last Blue Mountain' comes from the poem 'Golden
Journey to Samarkand' by James Elroy Flecker.
Steve Jobs autobiography is titled 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I
Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded ____, and Had Fun Doing It'
"Wholesale Banking" is the punch line of ING Groep.
The founder of Tropicana drink brand used to send ripe Florida citrus oranges in gift
boxes from Florida to the rest of US. He realized that he could send only the best and
biggest fruits in his gift boxes, and that the relatively smaller ones were going waste. He
therefore decided to make this beverage out of the relatively smaller oranges.
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Andy Grove's book has the quote: "Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds
failure. Only the paranoid survive"
TV footage of hungry Somalian children prompted US officials to send troops there. This
was the first cited instance of an effect named after a TV channel–CNN effect.
Guccio Gucci founded the company named
after him in Florence in 1906 as a leather
saddlery shop. Soon the company became
famous for leather bags for horsemen, and
expanded its business to Rome and
subsequently to Milan and Manhattan.
Lamborghini crest/logo comes from the founder's sun-sign.
The Ben Lomond Peak in Weber County, Utah, is said to be
the inspiration for the logo of Paramount Pictures.
Ripley's Believe it or Not was a newspaper column that began
running in the New York Globe in 1918 under the name
'Champs and Chumps'. It originally documented sporting
feats, and was called, before its present name was adopted.
"Luxury is personal" is the punch line of Park Hyatt.
Under Robert Woodruff, Coke changed its formula so that the glycerine in it came not
from hog fat but from vegetable sources. This was to ensure it could be certified as
kosher.
Scorpio was launched in 1996. It was sold under the brandname 'Goa' in Western
Europe in order to avoid confusion with another
automobile there.
"Make it Happen" is the punch line of Royal Bank of
Scotland.
Germany based retailing giant Metro chain was
founded in 1964 by Otto Beisheim.
While selecting a logo for the Reserve Bank of India,
it was decided that the East India Company Double Mohur would be used, with its
sketch of a lion and a palm tree. However, subsequently, the lion was replaced by a
tiger, since the latter was considered more representative of India.
MGM logo was designed by Howard Dietz.
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Panama hat is named after the place from where it was dispatched for international sale.
However, it is built in Ecuador.
Harshad Mehta's first job was with the New India Assurance Company in 1965. In the
early 80s, he sought a job with stockbroker P Ambalal, before becoming a jobber on the
BSE for PD Mehta. In 1981 he became a sub-broker for stock
brokers J.L. Shah and Nandalal Sheth.
Paul Gauguin was a banker and a successful stockbroker at the
Paris stock exchange. He lost his job when the French stock
market crashed in 1882. He soon moved from Paris to Rouen to
become a full time painter. He is now considered one of the
greatest post impressionist painters.
Donald Bradman joined a stockbroker's firm in Adelaide in
1935. He worked in the firm during World War II, but by 1945 the firm went bankrupt
and his employer was arrested for fraud. After this, he founded his own firm.
"Ideas create, values protect" is the punch line of Edelweiss.
"The software that powers the E Business" is the punch line of Computer Associates.
"We are building a new technology company" is the punch line of Lenovo.
Bombay Store was founded on December 17, 1906 as the Bombay Swadeshi Store to
augment its founder Bal Gangadhar Tilak's efforts in the Swadeshi movement.
"Don't leave home without it" is the punch line of American Express.
"Forever Sport" is the punch line of Adidas.
The Chrysler brand Plymouth Barracuda gets its name from the ray-finned fish covered
with small, smooth scales, and known for its large size.
"When life feels perfect" is the punch line of Four Seasons.
Les Paul was an American jazz guitarist was named the 46th
greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2003. He
was a pioneer in the development of the solid body electric guitar,
and designed his first model in 1941. A popular guitar brand was
co-designed by him, and is named after him.
"We bring good things to life" is the punch line of General
Electric.
"Stock market for the digital world"– NASDAQ
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"Where Do You Want to Go Today"– Microsoft
Masthead is a term originally referred to the top of a tall vertical pole of a sailing ship
which supports the sails. A brass plate would be affixed to the main mast of a commercial
sailing vessel, which contained the name of the owners of the ship. Due to this reason, the
term was borrowed in journalism to denote something that had a roughly similar purpose.
"Where Vision Gets Built" is the punch line of Lehman Brothers
Gazette was the name of a small copper coin in Venice. A monthly government
newspaper published in Venice in the mid-1500s was also
known by the same name, because its price was one such
copper coin. It is now a generic term for a
newspaper/journal. The word was loaned into English to
describe a newspaper. "Gazette" came to be used for an
official government paper with the creation of the London
Gazette, first published in 1665 under the title of The
Oxford Gazette.
The elements of the logo of Cafe Coffee Day signify the following – the red square
connotes leadership and passion, the white swirl purity of purpose and the invigorating
properties of coffee, the green stroke refers to 125 years of coffee growing heritage.
Cybernetics comes from the Greek word for 'steersman'. This term is also the root of
the term for 'governing', because of the connotation of steering an administrative entity.
Modem comes from an abbreviation of 'modulator and demodulator'.
According to Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age, Information
superhighway is a term was introduced a 1978 meeting of computer industry folk and is
attributed to former US Vice-President Senator Al Gore Jr.
"The man in the Hathaway shirt" was one of the ads created by David Ogilvy for a
then 116 year old shirt brand.
Marlboro was advertised with the tagline "Mild as May" before
being repositioned.
Salmon P Chase served as U.S. Treasury Secretary and as Chief
Justice of the United States. A bank formed in 1877 was named after
him, even though he was not directly connected with the bank.
Advertising slogan The Citi Never Sleeps was formulated by the
agency Rich, Wells, Greene in 1977. The slogan was inspired by a common statement
about the frantic activity-levels of New York City.
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Bernard Mannes Baruch was an American financier, stock market
speculator, statesman, and presidential advisor. After his success in
business, he devoted his time toward advising Democratic presidents
Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt on economic matters. He
is well known for having coined the term "Cold War" in 1947 to
describe relations between the United States and the Soviet Union from
the mid-1940s to the early 1990s.
Time magazine gave Asaf Jah VII a cover story in 1937 as the
"Richest Man In The World". He may have been worth $225
billion in 2008 dollars. In his 37-year rule, Hyderabad state saw
the first electricity supply, railways, airport. Courtier Sidq Jaisi's
diary is a firsthand account of the life of the Nizam's court,
including character sketches of courtiers like poet Josh
Maleehabadi. Jaisi reveals the contrast between the last Nizam,
who was fairly austere in his personal tastes, and his extravagant
son.
Swarovski is the luxury brand name for the range of precision-cut
lead crystal glass and
related products
produced by Swarovski
AG of Austria. Born to
a glass-cutter in North
Bohemia, today a part
of the Czech Republic,
Daniel Swarovski
invented a machine that
revolutionised crystal
cutting in 1892. The original Swarovski logo was an edelweiss flower, but was replaced
with the current swan logo in 1988.
In 1935, Wilhelm Swarovski, son of the original founder,
was a mere 17 years of age. With access to the specialised
glass production and finishing technologies already used to
manufacture jewellery stones in his father's factory, Wilhelm
managed to develop a novel prism fabrication and grinding
process that he applied in constructing his first 6x30
binocular. Wilhelm went on to found Swarovski Optik KG,
in 1949 thus laying the foundation stone for a sports optics
company with a global reputation.
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