DChetty» Cool

Marketing Genius!

DChetty — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:51:58 +0000

Good marketing is all about creativity & simplicity
Excellent marketing is all about stirring emotion
Drop dead brilliant marketing is all about timing it right.

Here is another product of excellent timing:

Yolanda Be Cool feat DCUP – We No Speak Americano – Video & Lyrics!

DChetty — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:00:29 +0000

I heard this track the other day and can’t get it out of my head. It’s SO catchy and I just love it.

I had no idea who sings it and had to pose the question to Twitter and @Blindcripple came to the rescue. Check out a cool video and the lyrics of “We No Speak Americano” below:

Video: We No Speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool feat DCUP

Lyrics: We No Speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool feat DCUP

Comme te po`
Comme te po`

Comme te po` capì chi te vò bene
Si tu le parle ‘mmiezzo Americano?
Quando se fa lammor sotto `a luna
Come te vene `capa e di: “ I love you !? “

fa fa l’americano !
fa fa l’americano !
fa fa l’americano !
fa l’americano !
fa fa l’americano !
fa fa l’americano !

…whïsky soda e rock’en’roll (x3)…

VW Polo Vivo TV Advert!

DChetty — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:01:31 +0000

This is a really good advert by VW for the launch of the VW Polo Vivo. I could be wrong, but I think that Ogilvy manages the VW account. Well done guys!

Audi Cape Town have me over for an MVP Day!

DChetty — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:54:38 +0000

I was recently invited by Audi Cape Town to join them on their MVP Day by the great Chris Rawlinson of HuddleMind. The basic promise of the day was that a few of us would be given a few cars, we would drive out somewhere and stop for breakfast, relax, chat and then drive back in time to arrive for lunch. All the while swopping cars on the way ensuring that we get to drive each model of Audi that was on the trip with us.

We arrived at 9am (some of us at least, @CapeTown_girl showed up late!) and offered coffee and tea while we were briefed on the days plan. We were welcomed by Chris, Grant and Wernich of Audi Cape Town.

We were then introduced to the cars:

Audi Q5 2.0T
Audi A3 2.0T
Audi A5 3.2 Quattro
Audi A5 3.0 TDi

I paired up with Athol Price of BrandScape and jumped into the Audi A5 3.0 TDi passengers seat as we took off from Audi Cape Town in the Waterfront to our first meeting point, the Shell garage at the foot-end of Sir Lowry’s Pass. We stopped on the N2 highway to swop seats and I took the helm of the A5 from there all the way through to meeting point.

The A5 is a beautiful car! It’s a dream to drive and the comfort levels inside the car are well specced. I love the driving position, the centre console setup, the steering responsiveness, the MultiTronic gearbox and the ease of which this car goes from 100km/h to 160km/h to overtake slower traffic.

We were the first to arrive at our meeting point and relaxed while we waited for the other 3 teams to arrive. We quickly swopped cars and headed toward Betty’s Bay for breakfast. The only place in Betty’s Bay that was open at the time actually. A small, quirky tea shop!

We drove the Audi A3 2.0T next, and oh boy did I drive it! If you know the route, you’d know that its pasted up against the side of a mountain with sharp cliffs dropping into the sea on the other side. It’s a tight bending, single lane, windy road that is any driving enthusiast’s dream. I was not shy with the A3. It does have the same setup as the VW Golf GTi which has a reputation of being a boy racer. I hammered the car into corners hard and held nothing back on the short straights with quick hard gear changes on the 6 speed manual gearbox. It was nothing but the most exhilarating, fun drive that I have EVER had. The Audi A3 2.0T stands out for me as the most fun car that I have driven yet!

On the last stretch, I went up against @AmandaSevasti in a straight shootout run to the finish in the A5 Diesel and the A3 did its job of making the task tough for the lady!

Breakfast was a scone and tea. We sat around and chatted for a bit. Chris and Grant then had a lucky draw of two prizes, an Advanced Driving Course in an A5 and a day with an R8 out on the streets of Cape Town.

The truth is that I don’t remember who won the R8 drive, but what I do remember is ME winning the Advances Driving Course ) #Buya

I drove the Q5 back to Gordons Bay and while everyone else enjoyed driving the SUV, I didn’t. I guess that I’m too much of a boy racer and wanted to plough the lumpy beast into corners under heavy breaking and pull it out of corners as quick as possible to plough it into the next corner. I hated the body roll but totally enjoyed the superior driving position of being so high up.

I didn’t get to drive the A5 petrol due some chop smashing into the back of it coming down Sir Lowry’s Pass while @JohannSchwella was at the helm, so I had another go at the best car of the day, the Audi A5 3.0TDi.

It’s completely convinced me to upgrade my A4 to a A5 on my next Audi purchase.

To Chris, thank you dude. You are a royal legend and I have mad love for you. I have the utmost respect for you and your work and your most notable humility.

To Grant, thanks a mil for spending the day with us out on the road and explaining the cars so well.

To Wernich, this was all you. You are a real champ to recognise the value of leveraging social media and you have a great guy to back you up on that front. Chris won’t let you down. You run a smooth operation there and your coolness about the little accident did nothing less than impress all of us. Thank you for the treat and a HUGE thank you for the Advanced Driving Course, I’m stoked about it.

The Audi MVP Day rocked and I REALLY hope that I get invited back!

Be sure to join our Audi Run, which is a group of us that get together every now and again for a breakfast run in and around Cape Town. Our Facebook Group has more details.

Lamborghini financials not so bullish!

DChetty — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:44:41 +0000

With the massive collapse of the motor industry last year, Lamborghini found itself in a spot of bother when demand for their cars dropped substantially throughout the year and the value of the US Dollar was slapped around with a trout. One can not ignore the value of the US market for the Italian luxury super car manufacturer and the hit to the US economy had the Italians eating crackers and cheese for dinner to save costs.

With last years turnover down to 281 million Euro from previous years 478.8 million Euro and reduction of manufactured cars by a whopping 37.7% which saw 1 515 units being built instead of the 2430 built the previous financial year, the Italian super car manufacturer definitely did feel the financial crunch.

Now if you know anything about the way these guys decide how to roll their cars out, you would know that when it comes to super cars, they always manufacture less cars than the general demand. This helps maintain its prestige, keeps pricing high & creates a shortage which drives demand even further. It’s a trick out of the late great Enzo Ferrari’s playbook and one worth keeping in mind if ever you get into any kind of business.

BUT, and this is a huge but… while Lambo turnover dropped, car sales plummetted and the Americans all moved out of their picket fenced houses into motor homes, the Italians have thrown more money at R&D and will increase their spend again this year from last years increase of about 33%.

Lamb will continue to kick out a new model a year and will remain committed to being a long-standing prestigious brand that represents brutal power. Expect the Lamborghini to roll out the Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera, which will help them balance their Galardo and Murcielago ranges with a drop-top, coupe and high performance model in each stable.

Iron Man 2 Official Trailer!

DChetty — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:15:08 +0000

This is the official video trailer that has been released for the movie Iron Man 2, which is expected May 7th 2010. If the first movie is anything to go by, Iron Man 2 should prove to be another brilliant Marvel movie.

At the end of Hulk, I am not sure if you remember Starck asking the Hulk to join Iron Man in a team of ass-whipping Marvel legends. That’s right, Justice League is on its way )

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNQowwwwYa0[/youtube]

Cool outfit- Voltron!

DChetty — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:00:02 +0000

I know that some of you will think that this is perhaps taking things too far, but this is a seriously geekishly cool outfit. This little girl is dressed up as Voltron and if that mean stare is the reason why they didn’t bother with the helmet, I’d say… “Smart choice!”

Visual tips for photography virgins!

Island Chic — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 04:10:05 +0000

In this digital age that we are living in, almost everyone carries a digital camera around. Regardless of whether the camera is a technologically advanced SLR Camera or a simple point-and-shoot pocket camera, almost anyone is capable of taking decent (if not stunning) photographs.

In my opinion, even if you knew nothing about the technical aspects of photography (that’s me!) the quality of your photographs could be considerably improved, if you paid attention to a few visual points. I am not a photographer and I don’t know much about photography. However, based on my experience ‘trying ‘, here are some points (mainly related to the aesthetics) that might help you improve the quality of your photos. This is only going to be helpful for people who basically know nothing about photography besides pointing and shooting.

Avoid getting your finger in the way of the photo.
Don’t use flash if there is sufficient light. In my opinion using flash usually (but not always) means, you lose the natural light and mood of the environment and the actual colours of the subject. Therefore it is better to take photos with no flash, in day light or well-lit environments.
Always pay attention to framing the subject. Before you take the photo, it is good to take a few seconds to frame the photo and look at the screen to see how you will actually see the photo, once taken. When you frame the photo pay attention to the following;
- Making the frame symmetric makes the photo visually pleasing
  Symmetry in this case definitely adds to the beauty
- If the photo is of a group of people, having them lined up sideways facing the camera or standing and putting their heads together makes the framing better, rather than everyone standing around in their own buzz.
- It helps if you avoid unwanted objects in the picture, especially halves and pieces of them captured on the side (of course you can always crop the photo later using a photo editing tool, on the computer to get rid of such objects)
- If this photo was taken without the elbow of the person, a bit of the plate and glass on the side, it would have looked much better.
- It is important to focus on the actual subject rather than just pointing in that direction and shooting. As most digital cameras have a focus pointer that you will see when you look through the view finder or look on the LCD screen, take a moment to get the focus pointer on the subject.
- When you are taking photos of people, don’t position yourself too close to them, especially if you use flash. If you do people in the photo will end up looking like white ghosts with no real colour and quite possibly their eyes will be closed.
- If you are taking a photo of someone at a beautiful scene, do not frame the person in a way that he/she fills the camera and leaves nothing of the scenery to be captured in the photo.
When taking photos of people, if there is a light source behind the person, it is better to use flash (unless you want a silhouette). Otherwise you will not see much of the person’s face as it will be dark and shadowed. Therefore it is always better for the person to stand where they will get the light on their face. For eg. If someone’s photo is being taken in a room with a window open, the photo will look better if he/she stands facing the window rather than with his/her back towards the window.
This photo would have come out nicer, with the subjects face visible, if he was facing the sun rather than with his back to it.
If you are taking photos of a moving object or person, it is better to use flash. More professional cameras have ways and means to catch movement without blur which is irrelevant at this point. Therefore, if you are taking photos of someone dancing or a moving object it is better to use flash (unless there is excellent lighting).This will help you avoid blurring.
Another way to avoid blurring is for you (the camera) to be still. Regardless of whether the subject is a moving object or not, if the person who is taking the photo (i.e. the camera) is moving, the photo will come out blurry. If will help if you lean against something or rest the camera on something).
Don’t hesitate to take more than one shot. Remember that even great photographers don’t get their perfect photos in just one shot. It is always good to take a few shots rather than click once and putting the camera away. If a shot is bad, you can delete it immediately or later on the computer. It costs absolutely nothing to take a few more shots.

These tips may sound useless and mostly like common sense to many of us. However, in my opinion even these small adjustments in the way you approach taking photos, it will make a huge difference to the quality of the images you will treasure for years to come.

Salute to the Classic Game – Contra!

DChetty — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:15:47 +0000

God of War 3 PS3 – Review & Interview with Stigg Asmussen!

DChetty — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:02:22 +0000