Sitting inside a theater amidst a thousand odd people, laughing, clapping and singing along with the characters, admiring the fluent choreography, mind-blown by the handiness of the sets and props, I finally understand what they mean by 'The Broadway frenzy'. After all, it is not everyday that one gets to watch the mesmerizing Broadway favorite Judy Mclane (One more look and I forget everything)!

Mamma Mia is the story of a 20 year old bride-to-be who invites 3 men (that could potentially be her father) to her wedding. The musical is based on the celebrated numbers of the 80's pop sensation ABBA. 'Money Money Money', 'Knowing Me, Knowing You', 'Dancing Queen' and I sing along, feeling a rush of sentiment and excitement inside my head!

Notwithstanding the fact that this is my first Broadway experience, I think it is the feel-good story of Mamma Mia and the delightful performance of the actors that quite literally held me spellbound! I can't think of any more adjectives to describe the most engrossing theatrical show I have ever witnessed...

In today's web 2.0 world, the scope of digital marketing cannot but stretch beyond internet advertising and online sales. And for those brands that target the internet savvy youth, the opportunity to leverage the medium has never been brighter. So the rush to capitalize on the 'interactiveness' of the internet is not surprising!

From an Indian market perspective, Sunsilk's sunsilkgangofgirls.com combined the power of social networking, blogs, photo and video sharing. With online makeovers, fashion tips and information on hot jobs etc., sunsilkgangofgirls continues to be an active online community.


Although the long-term sustainability of interest in this medium for mainstream brands is still to be established, more of them continue to join the bandwagon. However, only few of these manage to generate the much needed online buzz. P&G that launched Being Girl in India, as an answer to Unilever's 'Gang of Girls', remains an embarrassing experiment yet to embrace the strength of social media. On the other hand a more successful and recent example is that of 'youth' brand Fastrack that is going the digital way. Their innovative and interactive 'virtual campus' website engages the young audience well. From forums, polls, contests to online catalogs the interaction is holistic.

A user poll in a community 'Fastrack Rocks!!!' asks what the brand stands for? I am confident its brand manager is logging in every day to find out what Fastrack fans are saying. From the way things stand it seems like for youth-fashion brands like Fastrack, the digital effort will not only help sharp target their audience base and be proactive, but also remain relevant and futuristic in a market that is becoming increasingly driven by online search, technologies and virtual customer experience.

So this semester has come to an end and the grades are out. I stare at them and wonder if they reflect how I am going to apply this knowledge in business. I have never wondered this way because at least in the last 7 years of my education I have always been in the top-tier of the class if not the first ranker.

Then I join an institution where everyone else has been the best in their own professions. All of them high-achievers, some of them with decades of work experience and some others with the knack of managing spouse, children, assignments and tests.

Like this MBA Journal Writer (Business Week), Nathan Kolmodin says "What takes time to get accustomed to is that being among the best makes the perspective of being average change dramatically". With a semester behind, the grade-passionate inner self is unwilling to accept the recent sacrifice and be convinced about statements like 'when it comes to work place grades don't matter'. May be they don't. May be I will be a billionaire soon...