Human beings have been taking part in sports for centuries. Whereas many sports attract a following because of the competition, the excitement and the thrill they have, there are a number that draw crowds because of their eccentric or out of the ordinary nature. Sometimes, such sports being odd is not deliberate but circumstantial because of the differences between cultures. In other words, a certain sport may appear peculiar to one person but is completely normal in the culture where it originates from.The following is a list of 10 of the funniest sports in the world.1) The Annual Man versus Horse MarathonThis is a race where a man competes against a horse. The sport was started in 1980 by following an argument between two men on whether or not a man can run faster than a horse if both were to compete in a cross country race. The race is usually held in Llanwrtyd town in Wales.2) Wife carryingWife carrying races were first introduced in Finland but have now become common in other parts of the world such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Morono and Sonkajarui. In this event, the male competitors run through an obstacle track while they carry their wives or girlfriends. If you are going to win this race, you need technique. Most couples will go for the classic piggyback as well as the fire man’s lift where the wife interlocks her legs over her husband’s shoulders while she is carried in an upside down position. The reward for winning the race varies but the most amusing is the Sonkajarui race where the winner walks away with beer that weighs the same as his wife.3) Toe wrestlingThis sport was started in the year 1976 at Derbyshire pub in the UK. Similar to arm wrestling, for you to win you must find a way of forcing your opponent’s foot to the ground while your toes are locked together.4) Bog snorkellingA trench filled with water is cut through a peat bog. The competitors must swim in the trench wearing snorkels and flippers. The competitors only use their flippers to swim and compete against each other. You are not allowed to use any other traditional swimming techniques.5) Chess BoxingThis sport is aimed at testing the competitor’s intelligence and strength. There are eleven rounds that alternate between boxing and chess competitions. The first round is chess, which is played for four minutes, followed by a two minute boxing round. This sport has an umbrella body known as the world chess boxing organization which manages international tournaments.6) Cheese rollingAmusing to watch, this is a fairly straightforward competition where competitors race after a round piece of cheese that is rolled from the top of a hill. The goal is to catch the rolling cheese. Of course this never happens given that the cheese gets a head start and that it hits speeds of up to 112Km/h.7) The world beard and moustache competitionThis is a biennial competition that brings together thousands of men who show off their unique moustaches and beards. For the competitors, the most coveted prize is the title ‘most inventive and perfectly shaped facial hair’. The competition has different beard categories such as the Dali moustache, the full beard free style and the goatee.8) The world gurning championshipsThe winner of this old English fun competition is the one that can contort their face and come up with the funniest or weirdest expression. Competitors must wear a horse collar before they start to twist their faces.9) Pea shooting competitionCompetitors must shoot their peas (‘missiles’) into a soft target. The sport has so advanced that nowadays, the use of laser guided shooters and homemade machine guns is not unusual.10) The octopush or under water hockeyFinalizing this list of funny sports is under water hockey. It is ordinary hockey with the only difference being the environment – under water. The sport has grown in popularity in the Southern Hemisphere and is held in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.Even if you do not intend to participate in such an event, the mirth derived from watching these funny sports will give your abdomen sufficient exercise – you can be sure your ribs will be aching from hearty laughter by the end of the competition irrespective of who wins.

Digital Marketing versus Traditional Marketing is one of the most heated new age debates that we often come across. While on one hand the tech heads give you the most obvious justification of fast paced digitization as to why digital marketing clearly surpasses traditional marketing. Corporate Executives, on the other hand, functioning in conventions, would more obviously than not justify traditional marketing. Before we ponder on this debate further,let us first understand what essentially distinguishes the two.What is Traditional Marketing?Traditional Marketing refers to the conventional methods of promoting a brand. This includes newspaper ads, magazine ads, billboards, brochures, hoardings etc. Traditional marketing also includes network marketing. In its most basic sense, Traditional marketing refers to a structured effort on endorsing one’s brand but without any reliance on online methodologies. Traditional offline media are often the channels that brands incorporate when it comes brand promotion.The tools for Traditional Marketing are:1.Print Marketing
2. Broadcast Marketing
3. Referral Marketing
4. Outdoor Marketing
5. Publication MarketingLet us Look at a few examples of Traditional Marketing:A. Vicks, a prominent brand in India came up with a campaign called Touch of Care. The ad film showcased a a daughter’s relationship with her transgender mother. This ad film that went viral because of how it truly the touched a chord with the sentimentality of the audience.B. Dove, around mid 2000s came up with the idea of giving away free samples with morning newspapers. This strategy truly helped the brand popularize itself. This brand strategy completely worked in the brand’s favour.What is Digital Marketing?Digital Marketing as the name suggests refers to the marketing efforts of a brand using online channels. It refers to how a brand handles it online reputation. Optimizing your brand forms the backbone in this case. The biggest channel definitely is the Internet. The sub channels include websites, blogs, Social media platforms etc. Digital Marketing includes a step of intricate procedures.The tools include:1. Facebook Marketing
2. Digital Campaigns
3. Search Engine Optimization
4. Content Marketing
5. Influencer MarketingLet us Look at a few examples of Digital Marketing:A. Kitkat hit it big with their influencer marketing strategy. Their challenge on Musical.ly which involved participants lip syncing to the new jingle was quite a rage. It brought great popularity to the brand image of Kitkat.B. Kellogg’s launched their digital campaign using Stranger Things on Netflix. We saw in the series how Eleven was obsessed with Kellogg’s Eggo waffles. This online promotion that incorporated storytelling elements really brought about a string of desirable effects for the brand.Which one Should you go for?The market conditions are reflective of the cut throat competition that prevails currently. In a situation like this both offline and online presence count. While it is extremely important to maintain effective optimization and an impressive online reputation, it is equally vital to maintain a strong offline presence.Despite having different channels,both traditional and digital marketing run on similar strategies. The Marketing Mix, the backbone of any marketing strategy, consisting of Price,Product, Place and Promotion,is essentially what goes into both traditional as well as digital marketing. Therefore a perfect marketing strategy should be the right blend of traditional and digital marketing.While SEO, SMM, etc are great ways of reaching people’s computer screens but there exists a world beyond that which can be reached through the facets of traditional marketing.As you saw, Marketing can be quite a fix. They are services that call for expert advice and professional help. If done right, Marketing can have a sweeping influence which will bring about a string of beneficial outcomes for your ambitious brand.

What is a brand?A brand is a name, term, symbol, design or a combination of these used by an organisation to identify it or its products as unique from others. It acts as an identity and signal, communicating many messages to the market.Therefore, brand identity is its ‘personality’ in context of your target market. In other words, it’s a brand’s characteristics as sees by the market. Every business has one, although some are more subtle and others are very in-your-face.It’s very important for a brand’s success to have a solid, well supported identity as it allows the target market to relate to it. People are emotional beings and this comes across in their buyer behaviour, so therefore, if a business wants their product to appeal to a certain customer, the identity of the brand must offer a relevant characteristic that is pleasing and favourable to them.For example, popular cola soft drinks run intensive branding campaigns with their product on the beach with people enjoying summer, with the intention that their brand will become associated with ‘fun times’ and ‘enjoyable experiences with friends’. This trait, which is an element of brand identity, means that customers will recognise a relatable characteristic, and associate their happy emotions with a product that naturally lends itself to that situation.Five Dimensions Of Brand PersonalityResearch into the marketing and psychological aspects of branding date back to the 60s, 70s and 80s, and identify five main brand personality traits, known as ‘The Big Five’, which encapsulate the main categories of identity.How a consumer interprets all brand messaging is how a brand identity is defined, and the definition tends to focus on one of the following traits.(1) SincerityDown-to-earth, genuine, honest, and comfortable.(2) ExcitementExhilaration, adrenaline, fun, stimulating and sporting.(3) CompetenceReliable, trustworthy, successful and intelligent.(4) SophisticationUpper class, cultured, charming and posh.(5) RuggednessOutdoorsy, tough and strong.Regardless of which category, a brand identity can significantly impact a customer’s interaction and emotional connection with a specific product or organisation.How To Develop A Brand IdentityAn identity of a business, a product or brand functions very similarly to that of a person. When you think of a person, you can list off all of the qualities they have that come across to you when you interact with them. For example, witty, smart, fun, outgoing, frustrating, and so on. These qualities can be both negative and positive, and the way you were able to come to the conclusion of these adjectives lies in how you’ve interpreted the signals they projected through their actions. For example, you would label someone as fun, because they shared an experience with you that you enjoyed, or label someone as frustrating because they were difficult to get along with.It works the same with a brand. The best way to establish, uncover and promote a brand identity is to begin describing the traits and characteristics that come to mind. Then you (as the owner of that brand) must leverage messages and actions which act as signals to the target consumers to allow them to discover and interpret those characteristics and relate your brand to those traits.Branding ElementsBranding elements are the physical identifiers of a brand, such as design, images, colours, font, name, shaping, spacing and so on. Consistency is key here: once you establish your traits, as discussed above, the way your brand physically exists must be consistent with the characteristics you wish to portray.For example, if you want a sporty, exciting brand, you may lean towards brighter colours, modern fonts and trendy logos, as opposed to, say, a conservative fashion brand which may choose a more formal name, a cleaner font, a more conservative colour palette, etc.Customers are very intuitive, and therefore, brand identity and the associated branding elements must be planned very carefully to ensure that they both sync in such a way that the correct messages are being successfully and easily interpreted by the market.Using A VoiceA ‘voice’ in this branding context refers to the entire suite of communication tools used to promote the brand identity and elements, above, to the market. Basically, it’s how you speak and interact with your audience and how they relate to this.This can be the colouring, layout and words used on a website, the music and sound on a radio commercial, or the images featured on a print advert.Again, consistency is very important here. It’s very essential that the voice matches the characteristics and traits originally established for the brand, so that the audience isn’t the victim of mixed or conflicting messages.Write A Branding Guidelines DocumentA ‘branding guidelines’ is a document where all of the branding elements, identity and voice are clearly written out in detail. It provides the ‘go-to’ guide regarding everything about a brand, from design, exact colours, tone, images, sizing, backgrounds, tag lines and correct use.As mentioned above, for a successful brand and strong identity, consistency is paramount so that the audiences are not receiving mixed messages or incorrect signals. The market is already cluttered with noise, and so it’s very important that a business sharpens their message to be so specific that when a customer interacts, they interpret the message positively and correctly.A branding guidelines document ensures that all of the branding is used correctly so that the entire marketing effort is heading in one, uniform direction effectively. Making this document easily accessible internally within a business ensures that everyone working on promoting the brand is doing so in the correct manner.Every business has, or should have, a distinct and unique identity which makes it appealing to their customers, and it lies in a solid branding program to ensuring your brand’s personality stands out from the crowd.