What social media has done to us…

2 things i hated... but did the most in 2009

a. Facebook

b. Twitter

But now i just love them.. (twitter takes the 1st position)

so where are they heading for...

Facebook crossed the 350 million mark..every day users spend 8 billion mins. on fb \,post 45 mil status updates..i actually contribute 120 mins.. :) n u??

So what does it hold for marketers??

Well if u want to promote urself ... be out there on facebook.. even a small restaurant can advertise there n reach out to it's target audience.. for as low as 1$ a day..

it gives you a platform whre the customer reach out to you .. n can have a meaningful converstation.. so hey u CEO do create a page out there on fb n start connecting wth ur customers at a personal level..

well facebook is on a roll...worldwide spending on Facebook is expected to reach $435 million in 2009 and $605 million in 2010..

n Twitter has been on a steady rise..it has had more than 7 billion tweets .. check the real-time figures on http://popacular.com/gigatweet/

but there has been some sort of stagnation in twitters growth http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/22/the-world-is-flat-for-twitter-as-in-global-growth-has-stalled/

n it is a tough road ahead for twitter in terms of makin money,,

they must definitely look at creating their own applications.. n can earn revenue thorough ads when one goes on the application page... i definitely not recommend ads on the user pages..

there are zillions of applications out there based on twitter... so it's far better that twitter itself monetize the opportunities that lay in front of it...

but y do we spend soo much time on these sites...

well for me i use fb to play games...first it was poker... nw cafe world n stuff..

i rarely use it to intreact wth people...(thou undoubtedly itz the place if i wanna check someone out or reach out to)

n i use twitter to search n knw more abt the things i like... (i have almost stopped using google, blv me)

nw I don have to even login to techcrunch or google blog .. or nasa’s blog

.. I just get updated through twitter n if something interest’s me i just go on tha link..

actually some of the saddest news I heard was thru fb n twitter..

RIP MJ … n RIP Asheem da

Okay so yes twitter keeps me updated .. what’s more to offer??

Well use the search..

U knw .. try n search for mundane things like office furniture n u'll find :

a. people willing to give away furniture for free...NGO's can use this

b. people wondering from where n what furniture to buy.. co.'s can use this

go try out something really crazy .. n do share that with me..

was surprised myself to see that 90% co.'s promoting there hardware stuff like hand tools , garden tools etc. wre from India.. n they actually got leads...

I actually got to knw the abt a restaurant in Delhi which serves some of the best Indian cuisine .. from a German guy who had tweeted abt it..

when i don use them(fb n twitter) for work... i use them for fun...

n this"fun" tha i get out of them is wha keeps me hooked...

The other thing I really used on the net was stumbleupon …

Itz just wow… try it people.. it let’s u see the sites ..the webpages .. on the topics which interest u .. n u’ll get to see some amzin relevant stuff which otherwise you wouldn’t have come across on the net,, no amount of googling can yield the same results..

So 2009 has been an interesting year.. n ya social media sites have changed a lot… for the better… now let’s see what’s in store for us in 2010…

So Nokia will go bust!!!!!

Well i ain't sayin this..

MY very good friend says this..let's see why??

Well he owns a Nokia N92( communicator) n one fine day he drops it(keep this in mind)

now some part gets broken from inside.. so he gives it to the Nokia service center to get it repaired..

now it takes them more than a week to reapair n return his phone.. they had promised it'll be done within three days..

now can u stay without your phone?? ..which has all your contacts n other info for a day..

let alone a week.. no doubt my friend was infuriated..

so, while getting the delivery of his phone he writes on the feedback form that he's not satisfied with the service... n forget's all about it( no co. actually goes through the forms)

surprise !! surprise!! (actualy shock in his own words)

he get a call from Nokia..ya.. u heard right..

ok so whatz the big deal.. they ask him some lame questions.. n he states clearly that he was quite discomforted becoz of the delay...

so the Nokia promises that something will defntly done to compensate him..

( well promises are meant to be broken..aren't they)

shock!! shock!!

he gets another call a day after.. n guess what??

Nokia replaces his phone for a brand new one albeit battery..

ya .. this is a true story..

n before telling all this to me .. my friend said" Nokia is gonna go bust "

no prizes for guessing y??

Disclaimer: i've always used a Nokia phone.. n i love them...

Snail Mail form......Google!!!!!

Yup.. i got a snail mail from google.. actually it was addressed to my dad..

He runs a typical small scale business here in India, n the mail(letter) was from the GoogleAdswords..with a promotional offer..

Wonderful , i said as i opened the letter n showed to my dad..
Something i had been trying to cox him into ... to advertise on google..

Now this is something very imp and unique.. google is a co. which is today
a synonym for "web search" n they using something as far away from Internet as electricity is from my home town meerut..

The thing is ..India is unique market which provides unique opportunities
that we marketers need to tap n not grumble about..

people like my dad who are business owners( he's an exporter) still live a
century away from the net..
but not from good business logic..

Try n have a look at Indiamart.com .. it has co.'s registered on the site which have a turnover of less than 10,000 $ a year.. but Indiamart a typical e-commerce website has used traditional marketing channels to promote themselves ... and yes it has been damn successful ..

I wish alibaba was doing the same in India.. (can u think of more such co.'s??.. there are many)

K now google has my dad's attention ... i just hope he call the no. given in the letter.. as he would need assistance for running the ads...as he can't use the net to check his mails let alone go through the whole process of creating an ad online..

hence .. a 360 degree approach is what works best in India... with Internet just beginning to gain prominence for e-commerce( i say this because the size of e-commerce is minuscule compared to what it would be) all parties involved..be it the websites or the brands..they have to reach out to their customers in a way that leads to better engagement with their targeted audience,
n proper marketing mix is a must for tapping the vast market out here in India...

i remember registering on eBay n getting a letter from them...
Now maybe i'll get a letter from facebook one day??
u never know.. but i'll be really glad..

What Shiv Sena does is none of my business!!!!

It surely isn't ...that's y these hooligans enjoy a free run under the sun... they'll go about beating anybody... i must myself go underground ... for they'll be infuriated with what i have to say....



What Shiv Sena has just done .. going out thrashing Media persons is the right thing to do ... we people desreve this... for we are the ones that have made SS what it is today...



Do u really think anythin will happen to Bal Thackeray after this ,,, none...

There'll be a few arrests .. n then it'll be investigated... investigation is actually a pun for .. matter being thrown out of the window....



Shiv Sena wants to rid mumbai off it outsiders...

Mumbai actually wants to rid itself off Shiv Sena..



they'll say - he's an outsider(read not born in Maharashtra) .. i'll add tha i hav'nt been to mumbai more than twice...



but does us being outsider stop us from commenting about Kashmir... how many of us have been to Srinagar let alone ..anywhere else in Kashmir...



Sena Bhaiyo - Mumbai is as much mine as it is yours ... im lucky i was born in India...

but u rather make this ur disadvantage...n remain a king of ur castle...



but the irony is .. we know Shiv Sena is bad...

ppl will still vote for Shiv Sena... they'll still run riot ..some like me will write against what these hooligans will do... but none will stand up against them,,,( of'couse not me)



so what can we do..... whn all politicians r crooks....(Shiv Sena , MNS, BSP, SP, BJP, Congress, CPI....look at me trying to be politically correct by includin all i can remember..P.S. - AIADMK)



1st - we must all vote

2nd - we must vote for the one who is less of a crook... n not becoz he/she is of our cast....

3rd - we all cant go agnst the big crooks like bal or raj Thackeray .. but we can turn the tide against a small pawn ... from our locality .. or our community... remember the bal's of the world don't go out and break things... it is ppl like u n me ... ur frnd ur brother ... who due to the Adrenalin of youth take such anti-social steps...

it may not seem much... or may seem unfeasible .. but if we add up ... then we can make a difference...





i might wake up tomorrow n forget all this...

So next time anyone runs riot... blame me ... n also remember to blame yourself

view from the top

view from the top

We all see things in front of us and have opinions about them from what we see....

Do we see it all... nope ...we don usually take a 3D review of things..be it opportunities or obstacles...
Thinking out of box is ok.... but analysing from the top involves viewing ourselves from the top too.. we gotta see things like when we play chess.. where we know each position..n not just what lays in front of us..but also where we were n where we can be.....
It may not move us to a higher ground... but surely provide us with a completely different picture... a picture which will move us..


Now what is all this gibberish that i have written...

Well as our college ends ..we all want to get placed at a decent co. with a good package..
Then again many of us want to do something on our own...
i Want to.... but.. there we are weighing the pros's n con's of it all...
i wish everyone all the best.. to find the strength to do what they really want to....

a*******y : That nine letter word

I’ll keep it really short n simple… coz seriously this does not deserve a second thought …

Politicians : plz stay were ever u want to as long as u r paying for it….
Journalists : plz don’t give this the undue mileage… that’s the only thing politicians want out of this..


Crux of the matter: Mr Rahul… u waste more resources going by a train… plz fly down to next destination n plzz no point travelling eco class with 8-10 guards around simply do that business class n be more discreet.
Please we want our Future PM( well I like the idea of it) to be up n abt… n reach a conference more relaxed..

We the people: we need to stand up against what mayawati is doin in luknw… wastin thousand of crores...
I loose my sleep that we don’t have basic amenities n U.P. …. Imagine what this money could have done for the people in real need…

A*******y is not what we require out of our politicians… common sense and accountability is what should reflect out of their actions...

Advertising is Dead Long Live Advertising

One fine day we woke up and saw the writing on the wall – ‘Advertising is Dead’
What does this mean to these brands – Fem, Catch, MDH, Dalda, Nirma… etc

The thing is these Co.’s need to advertise to survive, sustain or grow themselves , Through the good old ‘Idiot Box’
So what do people mean when they say ‘Advertising is Dead’ – they mean that the conventional way of advertising through the ‘Idiot Box’ or the radio, the Print media is over and no longer relevant.
Because who sees these Ad’s anyways, Don’t we all just flip channels , running off to see what’s on other channels, so what’s the use many would wonder of such advertising.
Does a 30% increase in sales seem good enough to you?
Well that’s what Fem achieved when it advertised during the reality show “Rakhi ka Swayamwar’ .
Or the classic case of ‘Happy Dent White’ which had to pull of its ad’s off air as its stocks were sold out.
This is what good Ad sense can achieve on conventional mediums.

Now , we all agree the future lies in going online. Where the facebook’s of the world have become a part of daily life for millions of people world over.
This is where we can find ocean of space to advertise on, at the same time a platform wherein we can pin point our target audience to the T (i.e. demography etc)
Going online also enables you to quantify and qualify your ‘Reach’.
Pepsi launched it’s “My Can” online, it witnessed 2.7 million visits to it’s website within 10 days , this personifies the unique benefit with online advertising – here the consumers reach out to us advertisers.
Well another thing we must know is that Pepsi hasn’t come up with new TVC for quite some time now. Even with the extended summer and its competition being aggressive, and they are not on the internet either.
Before we come to any conclusion we must acknowledge the fact that when we talk about advertisement with respect to India we have got quite a unique market altogether.
Co.’s need to be present in both the conventional medium as well the as the cyberspace. We agree that ignoring the web would be rather costly.
For India the growth has just begun…n things are only set to improve …both for the TV and Internet as a medium….
So Coke n Pepsi .. we want to see u out there on our computer screens…
n MDH masla are well placed on the sas bhau serials…..
With rural consumption in expansion mode and the growing acceptance of MNC brands.. these markets will keep the oil burning for TV n radio…
N for as us Farmville mates… let’s check out the new gadget on the net….

Who ate my pie?

I had all the eye balls, they all seemed to like it.
Infact they enjoy seeing it again,
but they are not buying it .
What’s up….

Idea came up with the new campaign ‘walk when u talk’.
When you see it you say hmm, this is a nice ad.
I as a consumer would want to see it again.
And the ad does resonate in my mind.
But I don’t go out and get an Idea connection, I personally dread it.
Vodafone serves me better. All my friends have it, hence I get to call them for free.
That’s the answer my friend. That’s what we must be looking at..
Even though I paid 150 buck to get 1000mins free ..abt 15 paise Per min.
I still assume I don’t have to pay nothing…
Same goes with what a friend of mine. He wants to get a new Idea connection for his Driver as its just 15 bucks... as for me, you should have guessed it by now,Vodafone..
i got it for my cook because I can call my him for free…

Thus we as marketers as Business leaders, as a manger must realize that its not just eyeballs we need to capture… it is the wallet ( sorry but I am blunt)

Look at Aircel, I till date haven’t come across a single person with an Aircel number.
I have seen their ads in up in the hills where u don’t even dream of getting an signal (totally inhabited mountains 120 kms off Shimla)
Now they had a running campaign but no gain…
Advertises think they can CAMP for A period of time and GAIN….sorry folks.
In the case of Aircel I believe that they must have chosen a different concept.
They were launching their services at a place where they are virtually unknown.
So if their connection can do wonders on the net doesn’t appeal to the mass public…
What they (consumers) wanted to see and what Aircel should have shown is the price points.
· Cost per call
· Cost per sms
· Cost of new connection..
· There service differentiation
Aircel may have the same or even less rates… but nobody got to know that… and no one would spend time trying to know that…

I remember when Idea was launching in Delhi,
they had this tagline – ‘an idea can change your life’, they din use any celeb’s.
As was the norm then… they had a tune and all that but also the buzz, that they’ll provide incoming for free (seems like a century back isn’t it) .
And that was the real rockstar for idea, people used to call it’s helpline no. long before it started operations. Now that’s a case when a customer is climbing the wall to reach out to you, one rarely gets to see that. Even this incumbent of yours tried the helpline but it was always busy but worth a nice tune.
And yes I did switch over to Idea back then from magic (by Airtel) Idea did change my life. I could talk to my girl friend and text her for free all the time.

Now we also had the launch of virgin again no one I know is a virgin(pun intended)
Good ads…. They even had the price points mentioned, very aggressive as well, they paid you for your talkative ways.
But...(yes there’s a but with them as well)
They were not accessible you couldn’t actually find them around.
I may be wrong but here’s one TATA association which din’t work… coz’ many were confused whether TATA INDIACOM had just simple changed their NAME.
In retrospect there is one more problem with both Aircel and Virgin, their target audience…
For a service provider to shift me to itself would require a shift in the world….
College students and working professionals usually don’t get swayed easily.
So one has to make ads that targets the mass. The common man, the person which is a first time user.

For I did have the best ad…but still don’t understand who ate my pie….