Thursday, November 29, 2007

Google knows about you

My last week's traveling got better of me, I guess :-( . Now I am in my bed coughing and sneezing. Though I suffered from another kind of syndrome which is not too much prevalent in the medical books. It's called "Blog Guilt", since I could not post much last week. My sickness by and large is making an impact on the blog posts. So please bear with me, if I am not able to post as such in this week.

Still, while in my bed with all the medication (yikes) with me, I do keep myself hooked into internet to keep those mails and information flowing. Some may ask, why am I then posting in this condition?

Though, the answer could have been any smart pant types, but I will give the truer one. First of all, we have heard and read a lot about Google and its sister concerns, though not refraining from privacy issues. So just wanted to share some information with you folks. Nothing much; at least in this post, no amount of great research is required for which I have to use my grey matter.

So, continuing with the topic, how much do u think Google knows about you. I will give you certain clues.
And not forgetting, everyday Google is coming out with newer products which will be well entrenched into our day to day activities (Think Android).

So at the end of it all, Google (our next door internet friend) knows a hell lot about us. So until it acts as "Big brother", we are more than happy to welcome since the word that follows Google is FREE..FREE...FREE!!!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Eureka Bar: Backstory as a Marketing tool

Few weeks back, my friend Bozo told me that he bought a new shirt from Peter England (Do check this interactive site, quite interesting I must say). Though this won't hit the headlines for sure, still it did helped me to write this post in "Eureka Bar".

I observed an interesting narrative in Peter England (an apparel brand in India) shirts' packaging which tells us more about how the brand came into existence with "Peter England Story". This piece of simplistic marketing effort goes beyond the traditional capitalist overture.

Now product backstories is not new in the consumer centric markets. It has been there for ages. But now its importance is very well understood. If we dig deep, we will understand that product back stories have more potential than just from societal point of view. It's more on a cultural basis where you are trying to engage your customers with your product.

The backstories run deep inside the human psyche and forms an emotional bond. Now as far as I am concerned, I believe that backstories generate better Word-of-Mouth as people are more thrilled to know about where the product came from, how is it made etc. Nowadays marketing efforts are concentrating more on benefits, creating demand or focusing on attributes. So marketing companies' backstories become all the more important in this case.

The real lesson is "Simplicity in Marketing". Nowadays customers know that "You are Marketing" so simplicity becomes all the more imperative to break through the clutter. Basically no one adapts marketing which is simple and at the end of it all, it just gets ignored. But, simple stories are easier to pass along as they respect their audience by not wasting their time.

At least in this case, an Indian brand has taken to this concept of selling through Simplistic Marketing.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Eureka Bar: Brand me and a little bit more..!!

We all love Tees. But I don’t know if you have noticed it or not but somehow people love expressing themselves through this little piece of cloth. Take for instance, this company lastexittonowhere who got inspired by some of the most memorable places, corporations and companies in 20th century fiction (Look at the inset picture). Idea is simple; people love to attach themselves to the stories which these signages have to say.

Time & again, countries (sometimes cities too like “I love NY” campaign have tried to indulge their audience with them. So why should the companies forget this little idea of communicating their companies’ messages amongst their target audience. More often than not, we have seen companies fancying into sophomoric promotion/marketing through distributing tees to their employees. Now get out and spread the message to the larger mass alike.

Some of the reasons why I think that it will work:

  1. Long term benefits in terms of brand recall.
  2. At the end of it all, you are creating audiences who are inspired by the authenticity & transparency of the company’s story.
  3. Don’t forget the WOMM for this sort of communication which has become the lingua franca for neo emergent companies.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Marketer's dilemma - "Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder"

Advertising has gone to places where no one could ever think off (starting from television-outdoor-internet...). You see them everywhere, I mean every-damn-where. Some time back, in a very bold move, Sao Paulo's mayor banned all sorts of outdoor/billboard advertising campaigns as a part of the "Clean City" law. That of course puts a lot of pressure for those hard nosed marketers as they are trying to cope up with the situation (Thanks to Geeta Saini & Jinal Shah of Influential Marketing Blog fame and photographer & typographer Tony de Marco for this piece of info).


So we have a situation in hand. Most of the developed nations including US in some states has banned billboards as part of saving the natural beauty as it causes a lot of "Visual Pollution". Think about it a bit?

What if one fine morning your country or your state comes up with some law like this? Then is it that most outdoor advertisers/marketers will be out of their job? No I don't think so. Obviously they will come up with some new way of promotion, but the questions remains that is it possible that a complete harmony or coherence can be developed between these two sects of people - one of course the environmentalists & the other being evangelist marketers!!

Some of the strategies which neo marketers/advertising whiz's can put to use are-
  • Mobile billboard advertising (Thanks Abhishek) - Yeah, it's moving, dynamic ads - by & large ads to your doorsteps. Also in these sorts of ads, creativity is often appreciated. So WOMM is inevitable (though caution is necessary as it often may lead to commoditized ad campaign).Here are some of the few chosen alternate advertising campaigns. Have a look at the pictures.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

A cue to the future for the marketers

Some time back, I stumbled upon a news report of MSNBC saying that many Europeans are choosing internet over TV. And by and large, the same trend follows across the world. It’s as if we are bored of that stupid idiot box. Actually it doesn’t bring dynamism to our thinking anymore (Crap basically). So most of us are turning towards digital media via internet.

But one question lurks in my mind seeing the news which obviously pertains to our marketing brotherhood. What has this news to do with marketers, you may ask. I believe it has!!

The word for it is Advertising. Now that’s not the only story. Companies, time and again have had engaged, delighted, excited their customers (mostly targeted ones) in different segments, be it product or services alike through this medium.

Now the customers range from toddlers to “Silver surfers”. Now that’s what I call reach or aptly call it the “Power of e”.

Now, I will leave you with three most interesting sites for this week as you guys are smart enough to understand where we all are heading.

  • Themallplus : An interesting online retailing site which can keep you on your toes and you may end up buying something.
  • Thepoint : The Point is a social platform for people to solve problems which they can’t solve alone. Bye-bye NGO’s.
  • Indeed : A job search engine with a twist. Fiddle around a bit and you will know the difference.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Think Blogging as an industry…!!!

Now this might be interesting (I suppose). Most often my posts are targeted towards those who are marketers, “wana be marketers” or sometimes those who just want to have an experience pertaining to anything which internet has to offer. But have you ever given a thought to this- “Blogging (with Capital B) as an industry”. Now that’s what Jeremiah Owyang says in one of his posts.

Now I just can’t help thinking that Oh hell ya it is!! Isn’t it? It has all the necessary ingredients which a proverbial industry needs – Sellers, buyers, advertisers, platform, revenue model, media, celebrities, personalities, trends and blah blah.

So where are we now…? Reality check for many and Status Quo for some. There is one tiny winy problem to that. Remember big brothers- The Search Engine Behemoths!!

Now a lot of traffic is driven to blogs due to search engines like Google, Yahoo or MSFT’s Live etc. Now without proper gate pass, most of the blogs die out or aptly phase out just like that. Hence, emergence of SEO took place which thrives more or less on the search side of the human world. Now there’s nothing wrong with it, though!!

Still the question remains whether Blogging has matured to be called as an industry? Now, to measure any industry’s competence as well as incompetence, availability of information is the most important parameter. But when that amount of information is not available (considering SE like Google’s robot i.e. spider crawler doesn’t index a page, then it’s not easily available to many). So information is somewhat obscure in terms of availability. But some will definitely thrive as information & media is shifting to more niche zones.

So by and large, I believe that Blogging can be thought of as an industry; still it will take a much larger mass appeal as well as reach to gauge its industry status.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Just for the hunger of *FAME*..!!!

The million dollar question in the web 2.0 era is why users create content online (as web 2.0 is driven by user generated content)? Now of course, consulting giant Mckinsey came with a research work some time back. The reasoning they put forward pertains to one of the most inner desired instincts i.e. The hunger of Fame!!

So is the cat being set among the pigeons? Now as everything in this world has its flip side aspects to it, so does this statement too have one? I believe there is. Now for an amateur user, what forces him to press the content development button…!!

Now some free drinks for those who have hit the chord. Yeah, Fame is one of the reasons though, but originality & relevance of the very content is one of the most important aspects to be “Famed*.

That’s why time & again, we have heard three notions which will drive your fame status to its prime i.e. Originality, Innovative (sometimes viral) idea and Focus. Now these three will definitely drive your content to those parts which you never imagined.

So all in all, Fame is just one side of the story whereas to be famed, you need all those three factors to carry you forward. Now do we see circle being completed? Oh hell yeah, I guess!!

Monday, November 12, 2007

After mass media, it’s your turn Social Media to get fragmented

Mass media is fragmented. We have heard this umpteen times. Haven’t we? Now when the forefathers of media saw a new trend called Web 2.0, their heart must be filled with joy. But I am sorry to be a party popper. Even Social Media (the very backbone of Web 2.0) is getting fragmented. Think about any ripple effect (in terms of reuse & misuse of information) you saw last time in the world of commerce. Won’t you ask me the question, why I made a bold statement like that?

I will definitely answer it. But let’s see, if you have got the clue. I will give a hint to that. The ripple (each time content is developed & distributed) effect of social media is very much available in any other good site (if you consider this site to be a good blog, then definitely this site is also affected). Ok, enough of beating around the bush, I will let you know what’s happening here with an example....

Hypothetical Example
- An important news broke out in WSJ today in the morning and an influential blogger wrote a thing or two in his/her blog. Now as we all know, good content in internet is like chocolate & wine served in a platter which anyone can enjoy without much restriction. So an anonymous blogger wrote about it and the true essence of the information may get lost in between. Adding to it, some social network-ers promoted it as more infotainment rather than information-content. Also, we can’t forget the power of individual emails etc.

So by & large, larger ripples are fewer in number but greater in reach & smaller ripples are greater in number but smaller in reach and more targeted.


So the next question should be what should be done? I say nothing. That’s the beauty of internet -Information distribution beyond boundaries & restrictions. And that’s where the distinction lies between mainstream media & Social media. In mainstream, content is unidirectional whereas social media’s content has dual direction (i.e. content creator & content user is on the same platform). Actually, with new content added in different apps, the credibility is giving place to distributive power of “e” (internet) where targeted population is receiving it the way they wanted it to be.

So no hassles. And I guess, now the forefathers can go ahead and enjoy their usual drinks. Cheers…!!!

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Facebook markets *Your Face* through their online advertising

I have mentioned in my previous posts about two likelihoods- one on "Mass Advertising being dead" and the other being that online ads should be revamped to make it more user friendly in the context of Advertisement 2.0.

Now yesterday, Facebook came with an official press release of their Facebook ads. By and large, those ads are targeted at the members using their profile data pertaining to demographics in three parts according to TechCrunch.

Now that's ok for me. But is something more to it there? Now it seems that Facebook wants to market my brand preference, social networking, Web 2.0, websitess (though taking my own permission) according to nytimes (link). I will explain how!!

Literally, they want to put your face on the ads for the products that you like or your friends in your profile likes. Now am I missing the line here between privacy and social networking? Actually, yesterday they began showing ads with profile pics next to the advertisements for the products which their friends like or purchased before. So one sunday morning some of my friends will see me beside a commercial message which tries to sell them something which i liked or would like to have since I have a opinion on that brand. Now these hard data comes from the profile info we all have given to them.

Now according to Facebook, they are in charge of it having access to these sort of information and not the advertisers. Interestingly, this news broke out just a few days after F.T.C. (Federal Trade Commission) came out with a hearing on online privacy and customized ads.

Still not taking the credit away from Mark Zuckerberg (CEO- Facebook), the idea of using more interactive or rather the concept of using "social ads" is pretty kool as in they make direct emotional attachment with the users. As he says nothing influences than the recommendation of a trusted friend.

So as of now, I believe Facebook is going to bring a lot of tremors in the online business world. So check out the space for more info in the near future.

Monday, November 05, 2007

5 warning signals you will hate to miss in the new world

Hyper-connected world has become more of a cliché I must say. But I believe the real makeover in terms of globalization began much during the tech crash & burn times when zillions of clueless money was pumped into the so called fiber optic cables which connected a Mestizo with a Han. Now I call it clueless because they never realized then the new world of facebookers or twitterhommies of today will connect seamlessly with just a simple piece of wire.

So where are we now? In an instant we are becoming the latest actors (thanks to YouTube), writers (thanks to blogs), avatars (thanks to SecondLife) and last but not least RJ's (thanks to podcasts) and many more to come.

So when I put my little bit of thinking into it, all I came out with is 5 ideas which you will hate to miss in the new world of interconnected homo sapiens who can do more.

  1. Letter 'i' turning out to be a word- Yeah thats true. After sometime I am sure Oxford will publish letter 'i' as a word (pun intended). This new age of information flow is creating a new economy as a whole. Aptly it can be called as "Attention Economy". Nowadays even products are coming with the ubiquitous 'i' like iGoogle, iPhone, iPod, stressing much importance to you. The very you who forms the contours of this hyper-connected mesh.

  2. Tulip Mania- Tulip mania refers to any large economic bubble. Now most people believe that after dot-com burst, yet another bubble is on the way which was paved on 9th Oct,2006 when Google bought YouTube. Actually that's when every person with an inevitable thirst saw fresh dollar bills in their eyes with the whole web 2.0. Now with tons of new sites joining the race again, so aren't we heading for the wall again. Actually the point is as more & more are joining the bandwagon, less value is being created.

  3. Personal Media- Now how can we forget the Big Brother in between i.e. the mainstream media. Yeah, they have also come of age as more and more value creation and addition is happening in tandem with more user interfacing (think Ohmynews). Actually hyper-connectivity creates value added information at the corner of the adoption diffusion model. E.g. Bloggers.

  4. The Short Tail of Web2ness i.e. web 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5....so on & so forth- Now Chris Anderson (of the Long Tail fame) has got it right. And the whole inter-connectivity through latest buzzwords like web 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 is creating lesser and lesser value because of too much information clutter.

  5. Information overload-Last but not least, all the information that is available is getting distributed in a very randomly and uneven fashion. E.g. when one blogger writes something about a topic, other bloggers are like honey bees wandering around. So real and true information gets scattered most of the time. So users most of the time suffer from information overload disorder.
All in all, change is good but only when the change creates some value for all of us and not for a handful.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

How those lines say so much about us...!!!

Now this is something which I will aptly called "Weird". Though most of us will refrain from calling us by that name. But I am sure most of us have and will observe something like this.

No, I am not keeping the mystery unfolded for a long time. I will definitely pull the rabbit out of the hat. Actually it's quite interesting to see how many people mark or highlight some lines of books while reading. The other day I was going through a book by Tom Peters named "The pursuit of Wow!". Now thats what I call quenching your thirst in some form. But it's amazing to find out people marking some lines or paragraphs in the book (even though that it not right if you are taking books from the library). Still people won't chuck this small little habit. Yikes I must say...!!!

Oh I must tell you the lines which I saw marked in the book. Thats interesting actually.
"...and I'm struck by how timid most people are in fending off staleness."
Though there were more lines like these which I see marked abrubtly in nearly every book which I get from some library. Now whenever I see those lines marked I'm halted in my reading to understand more deeply what it is trying to convey. As if the lines remarkably stand out from other words that I have read before.

Now trying to understand why some people do this, I am again taken to the age old mystery about "why we do, what we do". Now one of the main reason for every individual has been to stand out in the crowd. So when we mark something in the book which will definitely go in someone else's hand will make us different (though that person is not in the picture). The fundamental thing remains the same. We, human beings are born marketers. We like to tell stories about us, about how we feel & so on and so forth. So those little lines tell about the person what he is...!! Eventually though that doesn't matter still it feels different, isn't it?

By the way have anyone thought of marketing (since some marketers talk about "Permission Marketing") through those marked lines. For example, spreading some mysterious facts about some company or brands or for that matter "You".

Try it, it's exciting I must say (although creativity should be yours).

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Google knows about you

My last week's traveling got better of me, I guess :-( . Now I am in my bed coughing and sneezing. Though I suffered from another kind of syndrome which is not too much prevalent in the medical books. It's called "Blog Guilt", since I could not post much last week. My sickness by and large is making an impact on the blog posts. So please bear with me, if I am not able to post as such in this week.

Still, while in my bed with all the medication (yikes) with me, I do keep myself hooked into internet to keep those mails and information flowing. Some may ask, why am I then posting in this condition?

Though, the answer could have been any smart pant types, but I will give the truer one. First of all, we have heard and read a lot about Google and its sister concerns, though not refraining from privacy issues. So just wanted to share some information with you folks. Nothing much; at least in this post, no amount of great research is required for which I have to use my grey matter.

So, continuing with the topic, how much do u think Google knows about you. I will give you certain clues.
And not forgetting, everyday Google is coming out with newer products which will be well entrenched into our day to day activities (Think Android).

So at the end of it all, Google (our next door internet friend) knows a hell lot about us. So until it acts as "Big brother", we are more than happy to welcome since the word that follows Google is FREE..FREE...FREE!!!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Eureka Bar: Backstory as a Marketing tool

Few weeks back, my friend Bozo told me that he bought a new shirt from Peter England (Do check this interactive site, quite interesting I must say). Though this won't hit the headlines for sure, still it did helped me to write this post in "Eureka Bar".

I observed an interesting narrative in Peter England (an apparel brand in India) shirts' packaging which tells us more about how the brand came into existence with "Peter England Story". This piece of simplistic marketing effort goes beyond the traditional capitalist overture.

Now product backstories is not new in the consumer centric markets. It has been there for ages. But now its importance is very well understood. If we dig deep, we will understand that product back stories have more potential than just from societal point of view. It's more on a cultural basis where you are trying to engage your customers with your product.

The backstories run deep inside the human psyche and forms an emotional bond. Now as far as I am concerned, I believe that backstories generate better Word-of-Mouth as people are more thrilled to know about where the product came from, how is it made etc. Nowadays marketing efforts are concentrating more on benefits, creating demand or focusing on attributes. So marketing companies' backstories become all the more important in this case.

The real lesson is "Simplicity in Marketing". Nowadays customers know that "You are Marketing" so simplicity becomes all the more imperative to break through the clutter. Basically no one adapts marketing which is simple and at the end of it all, it just gets ignored. But, simple stories are easier to pass along as they respect their audience by not wasting their time.

At least in this case, an Indian brand has taken to this concept of selling through Simplistic Marketing.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Eureka Bar: Brand me and a little bit more..!!

We all love Tees. But I don’t know if you have noticed it or not but somehow people love expressing themselves through this little piece of cloth. Take for instance, this company lastexittonowhere who got inspired by some of the most memorable places, corporations and companies in 20th century fiction (Look at the inset picture). Idea is simple; people love to attach themselves to the stories which these signages have to say.

Time & again, countries (sometimes cities too like “I love NY” campaign have tried to indulge their audience with them. So why should the companies forget this little idea of communicating their companies’ messages amongst their target audience. More often than not, we have seen companies fancying into sophomoric promotion/marketing through distributing tees to their employees. Now get out and spread the message to the larger mass alike.

Some of the reasons why I think that it will work:

  1. Long term benefits in terms of brand recall.
  2. At the end of it all, you are creating audiences who are inspired by the authenticity & transparency of the company’s story.
  3. Don’t forget the WOMM for this sort of communication which has become the lingua franca for neo emergent companies.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Marketer's dilemma - "Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder"

Advertising has gone to places where no one could ever think off (starting from television-outdoor-internet...). You see them everywhere, I mean every-damn-where. Some time back, in a very bold move, Sao Paulo's mayor banned all sorts of outdoor/billboard advertising campaigns as a part of the "Clean City" law. That of course puts a lot of pressure for those hard nosed marketers as they are trying to cope up with the situation (Thanks to Geeta Saini & Jinal Shah of Influential Marketing Blog fame and photographer & typographer Tony de Marco for this piece of info).


So we have a situation in hand. Most of the developed nations including US in some states has banned billboards as part of saving the natural beauty as it causes a lot of "Visual Pollution". Think about it a bit?

What if one fine morning your country or your state comes up with some law like this? Then is it that most outdoor advertisers/marketers will be out of their job? No I don't think so. Obviously they will come up with some new way of promotion, but the questions remains that is it possible that a complete harmony or coherence can be developed between these two sects of people - one of course the environmentalists & the other being evangelist marketers!!

Some of the strategies which neo marketers/advertising whiz's can put to use are-
  • Mobile billboard advertising (Thanks Abhishek) - Yeah, it's moving, dynamic ads - by & large ads to your doorsteps. Also in these sorts of ads, creativity is often appreciated. So WOMM is inevitable (though caution is necessary as it often may lead to commoditized ad campaign).Here are some of the few chosen alternate advertising campaigns. Have a look at the pictures.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

A cue to the future for the marketers

Some time back, I stumbled upon a news report of MSNBC saying that many Europeans are choosing internet over TV. And by and large, the same trend follows across the world. It’s as if we are bored of that stupid idiot box. Actually it doesn’t bring dynamism to our thinking anymore (Crap basically). So most of us are turning towards digital media via internet.

But one question lurks in my mind seeing the news which obviously pertains to our marketing brotherhood. What has this news to do with marketers, you may ask. I believe it has!!

The word for it is Advertising. Now that’s not the only story. Companies, time and again have had engaged, delighted, excited their customers (mostly targeted ones) in different segments, be it product or services alike through this medium.

Now the customers range from toddlers to “Silver surfers”. Now that’s what I call reach or aptly call it the “Power of e”.

Now, I will leave you with three most interesting sites for this week as you guys are smart enough to understand where we all are heading.

  • Themallplus : An interesting online retailing site which can keep you on your toes and you may end up buying something.
  • Thepoint : The Point is a social platform for people to solve problems which they can’t solve alone. Bye-bye NGO’s.
  • Indeed : A job search engine with a twist. Fiddle around a bit and you will know the difference.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Think Blogging as an industry…!!!

Now this might be interesting (I suppose). Most often my posts are targeted towards those who are marketers, “wana be marketers” or sometimes those who just want to have an experience pertaining to anything which internet has to offer. But have you ever given a thought to this- “Blogging (with Capital B) as an industry”. Now that’s what Jeremiah Owyang says in one of his posts.

Now I just can’t help thinking that Oh hell ya it is!! Isn’t it? It has all the necessary ingredients which a proverbial industry needs – Sellers, buyers, advertisers, platform, revenue model, media, celebrities, personalities, trends and blah blah.

So where are we now…? Reality check for many and Status Quo for some. There is one tiny winy problem to that. Remember big brothers- The Search Engine Behemoths!!

Now a lot of traffic is driven to blogs due to search engines like Google, Yahoo or MSFT’s Live etc. Now without proper gate pass, most of the blogs die out or aptly phase out just like that. Hence, emergence of SEO took place which thrives more or less on the search side of the human world. Now there’s nothing wrong with it, though!!

Still the question remains whether Blogging has matured to be called as an industry? Now, to measure any industry’s competence as well as incompetence, availability of information is the most important parameter. But when that amount of information is not available (considering SE like Google’s robot i.e. spider crawler doesn’t index a page, then it’s not easily available to many). So information is somewhat obscure in terms of availability. But some will definitely thrive as information & media is shifting to more niche zones.

So by and large, I believe that Blogging can be thought of as an industry; still it will take a much larger mass appeal as well as reach to gauge its industry status.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Just for the hunger of *FAME*..!!!

The million dollar question in the web 2.0 era is why users create content online (as web 2.0 is driven by user generated content)? Now of course, consulting giant Mckinsey came with a research work some time back. The reasoning they put forward pertains to one of the most inner desired instincts i.e. The hunger of Fame!!

So is the cat being set among the pigeons? Now as everything in this world has its flip side aspects to it, so does this statement too have one? I believe there is. Now for an amateur user, what forces him to press the content development button…!!

Now some free drinks for those who have hit the chord. Yeah, Fame is one of the reasons though, but originality & relevance of the very content is one of the most important aspects to be “Famed*.

That’s why time & again, we have heard three notions which will drive your fame status to its prime i.e. Originality, Innovative (sometimes viral) idea and Focus. Now these three will definitely drive your content to those parts which you never imagined.

So all in all, Fame is just one side of the story whereas to be famed, you need all those three factors to carry you forward. Now do we see circle being completed? Oh hell yeah, I guess!!

Monday, November 12, 2007

After mass media, it’s your turn Social Media to get fragmented

Mass media is fragmented. We have heard this umpteen times. Haven’t we? Now when the forefathers of media saw a new trend called Web 2.0, their heart must be filled with joy. But I am sorry to be a party popper. Even Social Media (the very backbone of Web 2.0) is getting fragmented. Think about any ripple effect (in terms of reuse & misuse of information) you saw last time in the world of commerce. Won’t you ask me the question, why I made a bold statement like that?

I will definitely answer it. But let’s see, if you have got the clue. I will give a hint to that. The ripple (each time content is developed & distributed) effect of social media is very much available in any other good site (if you consider this site to be a good blog, then definitely this site is also affected). Ok, enough of beating around the bush, I will let you know what’s happening here with an example....

Hypothetical Example
- An important news broke out in WSJ today in the morning and an influential blogger wrote a thing or two in his/her blog. Now as we all know, good content in internet is like chocolate & wine served in a platter which anyone can enjoy without much restriction. So an anonymous blogger wrote about it and the true essence of the information may get lost in between. Adding to it, some social network-ers promoted it as more infotainment rather than information-content. Also, we can’t forget the power of individual emails etc.

So by & large, larger ripples are fewer in number but greater in reach & smaller ripples are greater in number but smaller in reach and more targeted.


So the next question should be what should be done? I say nothing. That’s the beauty of internet -Information distribution beyond boundaries & restrictions. And that’s where the distinction lies between mainstream media & Social media. In mainstream, content is unidirectional whereas social media’s content has dual direction (i.e. content creator & content user is on the same platform). Actually, with new content added in different apps, the credibility is giving place to distributive power of “e” (internet) where targeted population is receiving it the way they wanted it to be.

So no hassles. And I guess, now the forefathers can go ahead and enjoy their usual drinks. Cheers…!!!

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Facebook markets *Your Face* through their online advertising

I have mentioned in my previous posts about two likelihoods- one on "Mass Advertising being dead" and the other being that online ads should be revamped to make it more user friendly in the context of Advertisement 2.0.

Now yesterday, Facebook came with an official press release of their Facebook ads. By and large, those ads are targeted at the members using their profile data pertaining to demographics in three parts according to TechCrunch.

Now that's ok for me. But is something more to it there? Now it seems that Facebook wants to market my brand preference, social networking, Web 2.0, websitess (though taking my own permission) according to nytimes (link). I will explain how!!

Literally, they want to put your face on the ads for the products that you like or your friends in your profile likes. Now am I missing the line here between privacy and social networking? Actually, yesterday they began showing ads with profile pics next to the advertisements for the products which their friends like or purchased before. So one sunday morning some of my friends will see me beside a commercial message which tries to sell them something which i liked or would like to have since I have a opinion on that brand. Now these hard data comes from the profile info we all have given to them.

Now according to Facebook, they are in charge of it having access to these sort of information and not the advertisers. Interestingly, this news broke out just a few days after F.T.C. (Federal Trade Commission) came out with a hearing on online privacy and customized ads.

Still not taking the credit away from Mark Zuckerberg (CEO- Facebook), the idea of using more interactive or rather the concept of using "social ads" is pretty kool as in they make direct emotional attachment with the users. As he says nothing influences than the recommendation of a trusted friend.

So as of now, I believe Facebook is going to bring a lot of tremors in the online business world. So check out the space for more info in the near future.

Monday, November 05, 2007

5 warning signals you will hate to miss in the new world

Hyper-connected world has become more of a cliché I must say. But I believe the real makeover in terms of globalization began much during the tech crash & burn times when zillions of clueless money was pumped into the so called fiber optic cables which connected a Mestizo with a Han. Now I call it clueless because they never realized then the new world of facebookers or twitterhommies of today will connect seamlessly with just a simple piece of wire.

So where are we now? In an instant we are becoming the latest actors (thanks to YouTube), writers (thanks to blogs), avatars (thanks to SecondLife) and last but not least RJ's (thanks to podcasts) and many more to come.

So when I put my little bit of thinking into it, all I came out with is 5 ideas which you will hate to miss in the new world of interconnected homo sapiens who can do more.

  1. Letter 'i' turning out to be a word- Yeah thats true. After sometime I am sure Oxford will publish letter 'i' as a word (pun intended). This new age of information flow is creating a new economy as a whole. Aptly it can be called as "Attention Economy". Nowadays even products are coming with the ubiquitous 'i' like iGoogle, iPhone, iPod, stressing much importance to you. The very you who forms the contours of this hyper-connected mesh.

  2. Tulip Mania- Tulip mania refers to any large economic bubble. Now most people believe that after dot-com burst, yet another bubble is on the way which was paved on 9th Oct,2006 when Google bought YouTube. Actually that's when every person with an inevitable thirst saw fresh dollar bills in their eyes with the whole web 2.0. Now with tons of new sites joining the race again, so aren't we heading for the wall again. Actually the point is as more & more are joining the bandwagon, less value is being created.

  3. Personal Media- Now how can we forget the Big Brother in between i.e. the mainstream media. Yeah, they have also come of age as more and more value creation and addition is happening in tandem with more user interfacing (think Ohmynews). Actually hyper-connectivity creates value added information at the corner of the adoption diffusion model. E.g. Bloggers.

  4. The Short Tail of Web2ness i.e. web 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5....so on & so forth- Now Chris Anderson (of the Long Tail fame) has got it right. And the whole inter-connectivity through latest buzzwords like web 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 is creating lesser and lesser value because of too much information clutter.

  5. Information overload-Last but not least, all the information that is available is getting distributed in a very randomly and uneven fashion. E.g. when one blogger writes something about a topic, other bloggers are like honey bees wandering around. So real and true information gets scattered most of the time. So users most of the time suffer from information overload disorder.
All in all, change is good but only when the change creates some value for all of us and not for a handful.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

How those lines say so much about us...!!!

Now this is something which I will aptly called "Weird". Though most of us will refrain from calling us by that name. But I am sure most of us have and will observe something like this.

No, I am not keeping the mystery unfolded for a long time. I will definitely pull the rabbit out of the hat. Actually it's quite interesting to see how many people mark or highlight some lines of books while reading. The other day I was going through a book by Tom Peters named "The pursuit of Wow!". Now thats what I call quenching your thirst in some form. But it's amazing to find out people marking some lines or paragraphs in the book (even though that it not right if you are taking books from the library). Still people won't chuck this small little habit. Yikes I must say...!!!

Oh I must tell you the lines which I saw marked in the book. Thats interesting actually.
"...and I'm struck by how timid most people are in fending off staleness."
Though there were more lines like these which I see marked abrubtly in nearly every book which I get from some library. Now whenever I see those lines marked I'm halted in my reading to understand more deeply what it is trying to convey. As if the lines remarkably stand out from other words that I have read before.

Now trying to understand why some people do this, I am again taken to the age old mystery about "why we do, what we do". Now one of the main reason for every individual has been to stand out in the crowd. So when we mark something in the book which will definitely go in someone else's hand will make us different (though that person is not in the picture). The fundamental thing remains the same. We, human beings are born marketers. We like to tell stories about us, about how we feel & so on and so forth. So those little lines tell about the person what he is...!! Eventually though that doesn't matter still it feels different, isn't it?

By the way have anyone thought of marketing (since some marketers talk about "Permission Marketing") through those marked lines. For example, spreading some mysterious facts about some company or brands or for that matter "You".

Try it, it's exciting I must say (although creativity should be yours).

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Google knows about you

My last week's traveling got better of me, I guess :-( . Now I am in my bed coughing and sneezing. Though I suffered from another kind of syndrome which is not too much prevalent in the medical books. It's called "Blog Guilt", since I could not post much last week. My sickness by and large is making an impact on the blog posts. So please bear with me, if I am not able to post as such in this week.

Still, while in my bed with all the medication (yikes) with me, I do keep myself hooked into internet to keep those mails and information flowing. Some may ask, why am I then posting in this condition?

Though, the answer could have been any smart pant types, but I will give the truer one. First of all, we have heard and read a lot about Google and its sister concerns, though not refraining from privacy issues. So just wanted to share some information with you folks. Nothing much; at least in this post, no amount of great research is required for which I have to use my grey matter.

So, continuing with the topic, how much do u think Google knows about you. I will give you certain clues.
And not forgetting, everyday Google is coming out with newer products which will be well entrenched into our day to day activities (Think Android).

So at the end of it all, Google (our next door internet friend) knows a hell lot about us. So until it acts as "Big brother", we are more than happy to welcome since the word that follows Google is FREE..FREE...FREE!!!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Eureka Bar: Backstory as a Marketing tool

Few weeks back, my friend Bozo told me that he bought a new shirt from Peter England (Do check this interactive site, quite interesting I must say). Though this won't hit the headlines for sure, still it did helped me to write this post in "Eureka Bar".

I observed an interesting narrative in Peter England (an apparel brand in India) shirts' packaging which tells us more about how the brand came into existence with "Peter England Story". This piece of simplistic marketing effort goes beyond the traditional capitalist overture.

Now product backstories is not new in the consumer centric markets. It has been there for ages. But now its importance is very well understood. If we dig deep, we will understand that product back stories have more potential than just from societal point of view. It's more on a cultural basis where you are trying to engage your customers with your product.

The backstories run deep inside the human psyche and forms an emotional bond. Now as far as I am concerned, I believe that backstories generate better Word-of-Mouth as people are more thrilled to know about where the product came from, how is it made etc. Nowadays marketing efforts are concentrating more on benefits, creating demand or focusing on attributes. So marketing companies' backstories become all the more important in this case.

The real lesson is "Simplicity in Marketing". Nowadays customers know that "You are Marketing" so simplicity becomes all the more imperative to break through the clutter. Basically no one adapts marketing which is simple and at the end of it all, it just gets ignored. But, simple stories are easier to pass along as they respect their audience by not wasting their time.

At least in this case, an Indian brand has taken to this concept of selling through Simplistic Marketing.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Eureka Bar: Brand me and a little bit more..!!

We all love Tees. But I don’t know if you have noticed it or not but somehow people love expressing themselves through this little piece of cloth. Take for instance, this company lastexittonowhere who got inspired by some of the most memorable places, corporations and companies in 20th century fiction (Look at the inset picture). Idea is simple; people love to attach themselves to the stories which these signages have to say.

Time & again, countries (sometimes cities too like “I love NY” campaign have tried to indulge their audience with them. So why should the companies forget this little idea of communicating their companies’ messages amongst their target audience. More often than not, we have seen companies fancying into sophomoric promotion/marketing through distributing tees to their employees. Now get out and spread the message to the larger mass alike.

Some of the reasons why I think that it will work:

  1. Long term benefits in terms of brand recall.
  2. At the end of it all, you are creating audiences who are inspired by the authenticity & transparency of the company’s story.
  3. Don’t forget the WOMM for this sort of communication which has become the lingua franca for neo emergent companies.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Marketer's dilemma - "Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder"

Advertising has gone to places where no one could ever think off (starting from television-outdoor-internet...). You see them everywhere, I mean every-damn-where. Some time back, in a very bold move, Sao Paulo's mayor banned all sorts of outdoor/billboard advertising campaigns as a part of the "Clean City" law. That of course puts a lot of pressure for those hard nosed marketers as they are trying to cope up with the situation (Thanks to Geeta Saini & Jinal Shah of Influential Marketing Blog fame and photographer & typographer Tony de Marco for this piece of info).


So we have a situation in hand. Most of the developed nations including US in some states has banned billboards as part of saving the natural beauty as it causes a lot of "Visual Pollution". Think about it a bit?

What if one fine morning your country or your state comes up with some law like this? Then is it that most outdoor advertisers/marketers will be out of their job? No I don't think so. Obviously they will come up with some new way of promotion, but the questions remains that is it possible that a complete harmony or coherence can be developed between these two sects of people - one of course the environmentalists & the other being evangelist marketers!!

Some of the strategies which neo marketers/advertising whiz's can put to use are-
  • Mobile billboard advertising (Thanks Abhishek) - Yeah, it's moving, dynamic ads - by & large ads to your doorsteps. Also in these sorts of ads, creativity is often appreciated. So WOMM is inevitable (though caution is necessary as it often may lead to commoditized ad campaign).Here are some of the few chosen alternate advertising campaigns. Have a look at the pictures.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

A cue to the future for the marketers

Some time back, I stumbled upon a news report of MSNBC saying that many Europeans are choosing internet over TV. And by and large, the same trend follows across the world. It’s as if we are bored of that stupid idiot box. Actually it doesn’t bring dynamism to our thinking anymore (Crap basically). So most of us are turning towards digital media via internet.

But one question lurks in my mind seeing the news which obviously pertains to our marketing brotherhood. What has this news to do with marketers, you may ask. I believe it has!!

The word for it is Advertising. Now that’s not the only story. Companies, time and again have had engaged, delighted, excited their customers (mostly targeted ones) in different segments, be it product or services alike through this medium.

Now the customers range from toddlers to “Silver surfers”. Now that’s what I call reach or aptly call it the “Power of e”.

Now, I will leave you with three most interesting sites for this week as you guys are smart enough to understand where we all are heading.

  • Themallplus : An interesting online retailing site which can keep you on your toes and you may end up buying something.
  • Thepoint : The Point is a social platform for people to solve problems which they can’t solve alone. Bye-bye NGO’s.
  • Indeed : A job search engine with a twist. Fiddle around a bit and you will know the difference.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Think Blogging as an industry…!!!

Now this might be interesting (I suppose). Most often my posts are targeted towards those who are marketers, “wana be marketers” or sometimes those who just want to have an experience pertaining to anything which internet has to offer. But have you ever given a thought to this- “Blogging (with Capital B) as an industry”. Now that’s what Jeremiah Owyang says in one of his posts.

Now I just can’t help thinking that Oh hell ya it is!! Isn’t it? It has all the necessary ingredients which a proverbial industry needs – Sellers, buyers, advertisers, platform, revenue model, media, celebrities, personalities, trends and blah blah.

So where are we now…? Reality check for many and Status Quo for some. There is one tiny winy problem to that. Remember big brothers- The Search Engine Behemoths!!

Now a lot of traffic is driven to blogs due to search engines like Google, Yahoo or MSFT’s Live etc. Now without proper gate pass, most of the blogs die out or aptly phase out just like that. Hence, emergence of SEO took place which thrives more or less on the search side of the human world. Now there’s nothing wrong with it, though!!

Still the question remains whether Blogging has matured to be called as an industry? Now, to measure any industry’s competence as well as incompetence, availability of information is the most important parameter. But when that amount of information is not available (considering SE like Google’s robot i.e. spider crawler doesn’t index a page, then it’s not easily available to many). So information is somewhat obscure in terms of availability. But some will definitely thrive as information & media is shifting to more niche zones.

So by and large, I believe that Blogging can be thought of as an industry; still it will take a much larger mass appeal as well as reach to gauge its industry status.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Just for the hunger of *FAME*..!!!

The million dollar question in the web 2.0 era is why users create content online (as web 2.0 is driven by user generated content)? Now of course, consulting giant Mckinsey came with a research work some time back. The reasoning they put forward pertains to one of the most inner desired instincts i.e. The hunger of Fame!!

So is the cat being set among the pigeons? Now as everything in this world has its flip side aspects to it, so does this statement too have one? I believe there is. Now for an amateur user, what forces him to press the content development button…!!

Now some free drinks for those who have hit the chord. Yeah, Fame is one of the reasons though, but originality & relevance of the very content is one of the most important aspects to be “Famed*.

That’s why time & again, we have heard three notions which will drive your fame status to its prime i.e. Originality, Innovative (sometimes viral) idea and Focus. Now these three will definitely drive your content to those parts which you never imagined.

So all in all, Fame is just one side of the story whereas to be famed, you need all those three factors to carry you forward. Now do we see circle being completed? Oh hell yeah, I guess!!

Monday, November 12, 2007

After mass media, it’s your turn Social Media to get fragmented

Mass media is fragmented. We have heard this umpteen times. Haven’t we? Now when the forefathers of media saw a new trend called Web 2.0, their heart must be filled with joy. But I am sorry to be a party popper. Even Social Media (the very backbone of Web 2.0) is getting fragmented. Think about any ripple effect (in terms of reuse & misuse of information) you saw last time in the world of commerce. Won’t you ask me the question, why I made a bold statement like that?

I will definitely answer it. But let’s see, if you have got the clue. I will give a hint to that. The ripple (each time content is developed & distributed) effect of social media is very much available in any other good site (if you consider this site to be a good blog, then definitely this site is also affected). Ok, enough of beating around the bush, I will let you know what’s happening here with an example....

Hypothetical Example
- An important news broke out in WSJ today in the morning and an influential blogger wrote a thing or two in his/her blog. Now as we all know, good content in internet is like chocolate & wine served in a platter which anyone can enjoy without much restriction. So an anonymous blogger wrote about it and the true essence of the information may get lost in between. Adding to it, some social network-ers promoted it as more infotainment rather than information-content. Also, we can’t forget the power of individual emails etc.

So by & large, larger ripples are fewer in number but greater in reach & smaller ripples are greater in number but smaller in reach and more targeted.


So the next question should be what should be done? I say nothing. That’s the beauty of internet -Information distribution beyond boundaries & restrictions. And that’s where the distinction lies between mainstream media & Social media. In mainstream, content is unidirectional whereas social media’s content has dual direction (i.e. content creator & content user is on the same platform). Actually, with new content added in different apps, the credibility is giving place to distributive power of “e” (internet) where targeted population is receiving it the way they wanted it to be.

So no hassles. And I guess, now the forefathers can go ahead and enjoy their usual drinks. Cheers…!!!

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Facebook markets *Your Face* through their online advertising

I have mentioned in my previous posts about two likelihoods- one on "Mass Advertising being dead" and the other being that online ads should be revamped to make it more user friendly in the context of Advertisement 2.0.

Now yesterday, Facebook came with an official press release of their Facebook ads. By and large, those ads are targeted at the members using their profile data pertaining to demographics in three parts according to TechCrunch.

Now that's ok for me. But is something more to it there? Now it seems that Facebook wants to market my brand preference, social networking, Web 2.0, websitess (though taking my own permission) according to nytimes (link). I will explain how!!

Literally, they want to put your face on the ads for the products that you like or your friends in your profile likes. Now am I missing the line here between privacy and social networking? Actually, yesterday they began showing ads with profile pics next to the advertisements for the products which their friends like or purchased before. So one sunday morning some of my friends will see me beside a commercial message which tries to sell them something which i liked or would like to have since I have a opinion on that brand. Now these hard data comes from the profile info we all have given to them.

Now according to Facebook, they are in charge of it having access to these sort of information and not the advertisers. Interestingly, this news broke out just a few days after F.T.C. (Federal Trade Commission) came out with a hearing on online privacy and customized ads.

Still not taking the credit away from Mark Zuckerberg (CEO- Facebook), the idea of using more interactive or rather the concept of using "social ads" is pretty kool as in they make direct emotional attachment with the users. As he says nothing influences than the recommendation of a trusted friend.

So as of now, I believe Facebook is going to bring a lot of tremors in the online business world. So check out the space for more info in the near future.

Monday, November 05, 2007

5 warning signals you will hate to miss in the new world

Hyper-connected world has become more of a cliché I must say. But I believe the real makeover in terms of globalization began much during the tech crash & burn times when zillions of clueless money was pumped into the so called fiber optic cables which connected a Mestizo with a Han. Now I call it clueless because they never realized then the new world of facebookers or twitterhommies of today will connect seamlessly with just a simple piece of wire.

So where are we now? In an instant we are becoming the latest actors (thanks to YouTube), writers (thanks to blogs), avatars (thanks to SecondLife) and last but not least RJ's (thanks to podcasts) and many more to come.

So when I put my little bit of thinking into it, all I came out with is 5 ideas which you will hate to miss in the new world of interconnected homo sapiens who can do more.

  1. Letter 'i' turning out to be a word- Yeah thats true. After sometime I am sure Oxford will publish letter 'i' as a word (pun intended). This new age of information flow is creating a new economy as a whole. Aptly it can be called as "Attention Economy". Nowadays even products are coming with the ubiquitous 'i' like iGoogle, iPhone, iPod, stressing much importance to you. The very you who forms the contours of this hyper-connected mesh.

  2. Tulip Mania- Tulip mania refers to any large economic bubble. Now most people believe that after dot-com burst, yet another bubble is on the way which was paved on 9th Oct,2006 when Google bought YouTube. Actually that's when every person with an inevitable thirst saw fresh dollar bills in their eyes with the whole web 2.0. Now with tons of new sites joining the race again, so aren't we heading for the wall again. Actually the point is as more & more are joining the bandwagon, less value is being created.

  3. Personal Media- Now how can we forget the Big Brother in between i.e. the mainstream media. Yeah, they have also come of age as more and more value creation and addition is happening in tandem with more user interfacing (think Ohmynews). Actually hyper-connectivity creates value added information at the corner of the adoption diffusion model. E.g. Bloggers.

  4. The Short Tail of Web2ness i.e. web 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5....so on & so forth- Now Chris Anderson (of the Long Tail fame) has got it right. And the whole inter-connectivity through latest buzzwords like web 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 is creating lesser and lesser value because of too much information clutter.

  5. Information overload-Last but not least, all the information that is available is getting distributed in a very randomly and uneven fashion. E.g. when one blogger writes something about a topic, other bloggers are like honey bees wandering around. So real and true information gets scattered most of the time. So users most of the time suffer from information overload disorder.
All in all, change is good but only when the change creates some value for all of us and not for a handful.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

How those lines say so much about us...!!!

Now this is something which I will aptly called "Weird". Though most of us will refrain from calling us by that name. But I am sure most of us have and will observe something like this.

No, I am not keeping the mystery unfolded for a long time. I will definitely pull the rabbit out of the hat. Actually it's quite interesting to see how many people mark or highlight some lines of books while reading. The other day I was going through a book by Tom Peters named "The pursuit of Wow!". Now thats what I call quenching your thirst in some form. But it's amazing to find out people marking some lines or paragraphs in the book (even though that it not right if you are taking books from the library). Still people won't chuck this small little habit. Yikes I must say...!!!

Oh I must tell you the lines which I saw marked in the book. Thats interesting actually.
"...and I'm struck by how timid most people are in fending off staleness."
Though there were more lines like these which I see marked abrubtly in nearly every book which I get from some library. Now whenever I see those lines marked I'm halted in my reading to understand more deeply what it is trying to convey. As if the lines remarkably stand out from other words that I have read before.

Now trying to understand why some people do this, I am again taken to the age old mystery about "why we do, what we do". Now one of the main reason for every individual has been to stand out in the crowd. So when we mark something in the book which will definitely go in someone else's hand will make us different (though that person is not in the picture). The fundamental thing remains the same. We, human beings are born marketers. We like to tell stories about us, about how we feel & so on and so forth. So those little lines tell about the person what he is...!! Eventually though that doesn't matter still it feels different, isn't it?

By the way have anyone thought of marketing (since some marketers talk about "Permission Marketing") through those marked lines. For example, spreading some mysterious facts about some company or brands or for that matter "You".

Try it, it's exciting I must say (although creativity should be yours).