What Does Freedom Mean to You

14th August 2007, the eve of Independence Day ... one could see happy and excited faces in the organization. Was it because it would be a holiday the next day? Or was it because our Independence Day brought a renewed and stronger sense of freedom?

Take a look at these pictures and see for yourself how flaunting our freedom and patriotism is the ‘in thing’ in PepsiCo India – Snacks Division.

Our slogan contest – “What Does Freedom Mean to You” evoked enthusiastic participation. Here’s what the three prize winners had to say

“Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear” – Himanshu Bakshi

“Freedom Means…….’fearlessly exhibiting the enthusiasm in you” – Abhijit Srivastava

Freedom to me means: “Doing a little bit more always ….” – Madhu Rajesh

Frito Blog Featured In Economic Times

Blog and Get Paid in a Knowledge Economy says Shreya Biswas in Economic Times, the business newspaper that corporate India reads. And Madhu Rajesh gets quoted in Eco Times.

Madhu loves the responses she gets on her blog posts, writing about HR initiatives, the fun things on employee outings and behind-the-scenes activities on product campaigns. It has just been a month since she moved to FritoLay’s snacks division as assistant manager on employee communication. “I really love the interesting comments I get for my posts. People lead you to so many new ideas through this,” says Madhu.

For Madhu, it’s one of her core deliverables on the job front. And there are many like Madhu who are taking to blogs in a big way.

To the various innovative options thrown up as a career in the knowledge economy every other day, add this one — blogging as a profession. Surely, social media is catching up and blogging, being among the strongest, is something companies are looking to leverage. Hence, some like GlobalLogic, Infovision and FritoLay are all planning to hire bloggers. In fact, Communicate2, a Mumbai-based search engine marketing firm, has already hired bloggers to provide content for two of its blogs, internal as well external.

“These companies want to reach out to their customers, their potential employees, trying to create that unique identity as a employer brand. Besides, it helps to get feedback on their products and services through this route,” says Abhijit Bhaduri, director HR, FritoLay.

Sample the action. IT firm GlobalLogic plans to hire bloggers on the rolls for a blog they are coming up with in the next 2-3 months. This, as the company tries to increasingly position itself as ‘a firm focused on high-tech work’. It believes the blog being an interactive medium would be the best platform to talk about the company’s initiatives.

The search for professional bloggers are on. “We are looking at journalistic profiles and techies who have a flair for writing. Anyone who understands the business and draws in readers through good posts are welcome. We are already in the process of launching a blog that will talk about company initiatives and review latest gadgets talk about industry trends. Hence, we are looking for people who could get readers interested,” says Rajul Garg, co-founder & VP, corporate development and human resources, GlobalLogic.

IT services company Infovision has similar plans. It is coming up with three blogs in the next one month and plans to hire some professional bloggers. As for the sources for hiring bloggers, it plans to tap into advertising, marketing and communication professionals. Those having a good marketing background will help the cause of the company, thinks Infovision CEO Aditya Gupta.

Employers feel that a good understanding of the business is important before getting down to writing for the blogs. Blogger hiring, though quite common in western countries and among MNCs, has yet to catch up in India in a big way. In fact, as of now there are only a handful in India which are hiring bloggers on their rolls. This is because blogging is yet to reach a stage in this country where people would be hired to manage an entire blog and provide content.

Nonetheless, some have realised the impact of the medium as a cost-effective medium. As a result, some of the smaller companies like Communicate2 are even trying this out as an option. It has hired three people a month back who are being trained to become pro-bloggers. They will be writing for the two blogs the company has, both internal and external.

Vivek Bhargava, MD, Communicate2, says; “There are regular brainstorming sessions on what could be the topic of posts. Coming up with new ideas would be a challenge for them and the frequency has to be maintained too. Besides, we are also training them on the businesses they would be writing on. This is essential.”

But to begin with, corporate blogging would require people with a good business background. Besides, bloggers need to first get a hang of the subjects they are writing on.

R Rajesh is R Correspondent in Thailand

Our Marketing guy R Rajesh was seconded to Pepsico's Asia Region Headquarter in Bangkok as Beverage Platform Director. Rajesh is an enthusiastic shutterbug and regularly delights his colleagues with unflattering mugshots of them.

He now shares these pictures of Bangkok’s famous floating market. Rajesh seems to be on the verge of discovering a new platform for sale of Lays. Hey Rajesh! Go ahead and strike a deal!!
Have a sneak view of Bangkok’s most popular floating market – Damnoen Saduak. The Thai name for Bangkok is Krung Thep Maha Nakhon

Rajesh shares :

"The Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is
located about 105 kms from Bangkok. The excellent quality of soil beside the
canal makes it suitable for growing many kinds of fruits and vegetables. The
area is famous for Malacca grape, Chinese grapefruit, mangoes, bananas, and
coconut.

Here one can see the traditional way of selling and buying fruits, vegetables, etc., from small boats. A boat-ride along the canal is a great way to see the traditional Thai houses and the way they live and conduct their daily lives by boats.

The sheer hustle and bustle in the early morning as the sellers spread their wares and buyers jostle for a good bargain and the tourists crane their necks for a good shot makes it one of the “not-to-be-missed” attractions of Thailand !!"

To see more from Rajesh's albums of pix click

http://www.pbase.com/r_rajesh1801/

Meet the HR Folx

Sometime back there was a get together of the people in Human Resources. They expect us to believe that it was for serious deliberations.

It was evident to us that they worked really hard at the offsite - we have pictures to prove that.

You decide what anyone could have been talking about with such an attentive audience.

The name of the location was Daru-hera. Need I say more?

The FritoLay Rack is Everywhere!

One of the things that always strikes me is the challenge that the Supply Chain guys of Frito Lays face. Getting the crisp bag of chips from the factory to the distributor to the corner shop where you can just reach out and grab it when you want to... thats a tall order. And then you need to have just all the right flavor combos. Maybe you want to try the new MINT MISCHIEF or some other flavor.

That's where the rack comes in. It is there everywhere - at least we try to be everywhere. I went on vacation recently to various places in Himachal Pradesh. The most memorable one being McLeodganj. It is an amazing example of Tibetan culture and of course is most famous for being the residence of HH The Dalai Lama.

The city is busy with the buzz of the tourists. They are there everywhere mingling with the locals, driving a hard bargain over Tibetan junk jewellery or a CD of Tibetan chants.

I saw a street artiste walking a tightrope. Right there in the middle of the narrow lane the young artiste had set up shop and was performing for the benefit of an appreciative audience.

I saw the familiar FritoLay rack everywhere. Here is a photo of the rack at Mcleodganj. If you have spotted the FritoLay rack at remote and unexpected locations, you could send us those photos at fritolay2007@gmail.com along with a short write up about the place. We will publish it on these pages and give you credit. Come blog with us.

Pepsico's Headquarters in US

Yes, sometimes bloggers do get lucky. I got a chance to visit the world headquarters of PepsiCo in US. This has to be one of the prettiest office campuses I have seen. Located about 31 miles from New York city is the HQ at Anderson Hill Road, Purchase, New York, USA. Yeah the city is actually called Purchase and is part of Westchester County.

Westchester County is marked in red in the map of New York state.



What amazed me was the sculpture garden which is an integral part of the PepsiCo campus. Named after Don Kendall the company's former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, the garden was designed to integrate architecture, landscape, and sculpture.

There are 45 large-scale pieces of bronze, marble, steel, nickel, resin, granite and spruce by 20th century artists. The whole surrounding is just so cool and green. The perfectly manicured gardens and the sculptures tucked away in various corners was lovely.


The one sculpture that is most often photographed is this one. These are all supposed to be the sculptures friends in real life who have been immortalized.

You don't need a ticket to visit the garden. It is open to the public and so just pack your bags and land up here. And yes if you wanted to let your dogs enjoy sculpture, bring them along - but on a leash (says the security guard).

Kurkure's new campaign - Chaitime Achievers

Ever thought a recipe with your fav snack can make you famous around the country?!! Well, trust the masti'khor' Kurkure brand to bestow this honour on its consumers. This summer, watch Kurkure get more innovative than ever as it awards the 'Best Kurkure recipe consumers' the distinction of being on over a million Kurkure packs across the country!!

This first of its kind campaign in India, launched in May aims at promoting versatile usage of Kurkure and is beginning to receive responses from eager consumers writing in with their most innovative preparations with this crunchy delight to teatime@kurkure.co.in and www.kurkure.co.in!

Powered by an exciting commercial showcasing crazy consumers trying to grab the 'Kurkure frame' - their ticket to famedom, this campaign truly gives consumers a taste of Kurkure in the most innovative way!!

Check out the commercial and rack your brains!!
I'm off to creating my most mast Kurkure recipe - want to team up? ;)

Chaitime masti bole toh Kurkure se bani winning recipes!!

Sharks (Southern) in the Backwaters of Kerala

Kerala is one the states in south India which is flanked by the Arabian Sea on the West and the Ghats mountain range in the East and criss crossed by 44 rivers, Kerala is referred to in tourism brochures as the "Venice of the East" and in a very popular ad campaign as "God's Own Country".

The Southern Sales team of FritoLay - or the "Southern Sharks" as they are called, decided to have a party to chill and celebrate. What could be a better option than to go to the lazy backwaters of Kerala. The lazy backwaters of Allapuzha (you have to ask someone from Kerala how to pronounce that), earlier known as Alleppey was the venue of choice.

The highlight of the evening was the recognition of the super achievers - the Platinum Award and the Ring of Honor winners were all invited with their spouse, kids (Please note proud baby in the picture)or parents. When the winner came on stage for their moment in the spotlight, there was a video of the spouse or parent which mentioned how proud they were of having a winner in the family.

In keeping with their name, the awards were named after one of the 360 species of sharks. So we met the "Goblin Shark", the "Mako Shark", the "Bonnethead Shark" and of course the "Shark of the Year".

Masti bole तो कुरकुरे

FritoLay Blog features in Asia Times Story

The Asia Times story on Corporate Blogging talks about Indian firms entering the blogosphere.

M Raja says, "Software giant Infosys (US$4 billion in revenues in the current fiscal year) operates a blog, "Think Flat", with postings from its top brass including from Nandan Nilekani, the chief executive officer and managing director; Aditya Jha, the head of global brand and communications; Stephen Pratt, the CEO and managing director of Infosys Consulting; and Richa Govil, the group manager of its corporate marketing section. While the Infosys blog is heavier with shop talk, snacks major Fritolay started a blog this month offering a more informal report of office outings such as a river-rafting expedition on the Ganges River and events in the company factory. Abhijit Bhaduri, who runs the Fritolay blog, said it is getting popular with employees. "Corporate blogs will grow as we realize the ability to impact on opinions," Bhaduri told ATol. "Today people use networking sites for information about prospective companies even before they have joined work, like networking groups of all MBAs [masters of business administration] or engineers. The corporate blogs help you join the conversation."

Other corporate head honchos such as Rajeev Karwal have begun to publish personal blogs. Karwal's blog says it's intended to "express gratitude to people, organizations, stories and situations which have taught me some important lessons in professional and personal life".

What we discover is that there are many avid bloggers from Frito who we keep bumping into in the blogosphere who blog about corporate life/ life in Frito and their points of view about how the world needs to be run and all that. Here's power to bloggers.

Read the story here http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/ID25Df01.html

A New Train of Thought

The Indian Railways (started on 16 April 1853) have always evoked a feeling of nostalgia among its travellers. Whether it is the steam engine chugging through the countryside or the hullaballoo and chaos at the Railways station, train journeys are an integral part of everyone's holiday memories.

This year, when you plan a summer vacation down south, you may get a chance to get a ride on the Kurkure “Masti” Express. In yet another first, Kurkure became the first brand in the country to have a branded train. In a path breaking initiative, Kurkure has tied up with the South Western Railways to brand 3 summer special trains emanating out of Bangalore (Bangalore-Chennai, Bangalore-Hubli, Bangalore-Nagercoil). These Summer special trains would be branded by Kurkure and would be called the “Kurkure Masti Express”. Kurkure has always aimed at creating “mast” family moments, and the Summer Special trains are going to leverage the season when families go for vacations, thereby giving us yet another opportunity to create fun-filled moments for the entire family.

A brand that has always “delightfully surprised” families through its innovative offerings, this is yet another example of the same. Kurkure has always provided lifetime experiences like a “Tea party on a plane”, and this initiative is going to be yet another initiative to further Kurkure’s promise to provide lifetime experiences.

According to newsreports South Western Railway had called for bids for a unique initiative called Brand Train, under which a brand name would feature along with the train's name in all announcements, on reserved tickets, on reservation charts, on destination boards of the train, coach indication slips and during all information dissemination about the train.

So if you have tried out a Kurkure Train experience write to us here and tell us all about it.

That's a Raft Idea

White water rafting in India is almost exclusively confined to the northern rivers which flow southwards from the Himalayas, gushing between densely forested mountains and through steep gorges. Rivers such as the Alaknanda, Bhagirathi, Indus, Zanskar and Teesta offer `raft-worthy’ rapids, and a trip down a river can be a great way to see the countryside.

At Frito we believe in keeping the adrelin going. When the gang got tired they decided to fight the elements... and sure enough some had to come up with a RAFT idea!! :)


Going rafting is just one way we increase our fun quotient outside the office. What you see here are the adventurous Marketing folks standing there posing before they start. There were a few who were apprehensive about trying on the version of a "leisure sport".

"If you don't try it out how would you know whether you like it or not", said someone who had taken the plunge (literally).


The team that took the challenge and plunged right in!!!

Watch this place to learn about what other groups have been up to.

For those of you who love rafting, what has been your fave rafting destination? Someone sent us this link

FritoLays Day celebrated at Channo Factory

The factory of FritoLay India located at Channo is in the heartland of Punjab. They celebrated the Annual Day on 25th December 2006. The place is a quiet little hamlet surrounded by green fields as you drive in towards the factory.

I just love the verdant surroundings. There is something endearing about the land and people of Punjab that comes through in each interaction.

I found a map of District Sangrur that tells you the towns that surround Channo.
The FritoLays day celebration is a family affair. So you could see the kids trying out all the games of chance and skill while the adults preferred to sun themselves in the winter sun.

The day ended with a hearty round of Bhangra - the folk dance of Punjab that cuts across international boundaries because of its simplicity and appeal. Bhangra has been mixed with Disco, Techno, Reggae and of course with Hip Hop by the well known rapper Jay-Z (pronounced Jay Zee) who sang Mundiyan To Bach Ke (translation - Beware of the Boys). But what we had that day was the desi version and performed with gusto by the Frito crowd.

So here's to a great year ahead for you and your loved ones. Don't forget to try out a Bhangra move the next time you go dancing.

Bring A Friend to Work - Watch the Video

Krishna Kumar - who heads Human Resources for the Sales team of FritoLay in South and East India has experienced tremendous success in hiring people through an internal referral process. The campaign dubbed as BRING A FRIEND TO WORK (sounds really cute) seems to be really working for our Sales team. So Krishna turned this into a 30 second commercial - by himself. yes - he loves learning new software. Here's what he writes in to say

"Employee referral is the best way to build talent. Out of 39 recruits, 43% are from South & East. It clearly reflects our employee satisfaction. Have developed a small communication to reinforce the same.

Brief:

Have linked the success of “Bring a friend to work” scheme with our brands. Each one of our brand refers other brands and thus building total commitment across. This 30 sec video gives a sense of “togetherness” and ends up with a note on Employee Satisfaction where all the brands are represented as a family.
This has been worked on 3D Max contains 1000 frames. Animating each brand was the challenge. It was similar to developing a Cartoon movie. Now we are going beyond stereotypical AV…"

Great job Krishna. That was an impressive effort. Congrats!!

If you wish to download the video here's the link just copy and paste this into your browser and reach the Youtube.com site

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynfg27tErNU

PO1 R&D Centre Inaugurated

Inauguration of the new Power of One R&D Lab
Gurgaon: 3rd October 2006


It is finally here. The combined R&D Lab will cater to the Snacks as well as Beverages Division of Pepsico International.

The swank new set up was put together in record time. Here's to more innovations and exciting products from the Lab.



Left to Right: Rajiv Bakshi, Vijay Sukumaran, Manu Anand and Doc TSR Murali.

My friends and family often ask me what is it like to work for FritoLay India? It is a young and vibrant place, run by very young people. The atmosphere at work is best described as collegial, a tad crazy at times. A very high affinity driven culture where colleagues are also best of friends. Let's ask the people what they have to say.

Find out the answer to the question of the week....

"Who is the inspiration for the smiley that you see in the FritoLay logo?