AMD versus Intel: social media wars

"Feud" is a term which evokes imagery of Gallic warriors engaged in a ferocious battle to conquer the opponent's territory and eventual world domination.

The historical 'feud' between AMD & Intel needs no introduction for some one clued into processor wars. [Check out this white paper for further information]. AMD's VP, Advanced Marketing, Patrick Moorhead, took the battle pitch a notch higher by publicly calling:

Intel's refusal to deal with issues like battery life on blogs and Twitter "offensive and derogatory to consumers" as reported by The Inquirer at SXSW 09 this week.

The new turf cleverly chosen by Patrick, is an indication of things to come in the social media space. Intel largely, has been a reference point for technology companies looking to engage audiences with social media initiatives [see: Intel SM Guidelines, 2, 3]. Although, the effectiveness of these efforts and their nature may be a topic of broader debate, it is likely that being the market leader in both perception, social media and valuation it is an easier target.

My techie friends tell me, that AMD has much better processors than Intel, and both have their own pros and cons. In India AMD's footprint has been limited and has not been able to breach the tech-fanatic barrier. For most users Intel brand recall is much higher and is often associated with trust and performance. Most are oblivious to what processor their PC manufacturer has set up to them. I have my doubts that "AMD inside" will evoke a sense of relief amongst Indian PC users.

A localized social media campaign may help them in creating buzz on the burgeoning social media platforms here in India. May be AMD India ought to take notice of this fact in order to tap developing markets.

Meanwhile, Moorhead, has hit the spot when he says

"Neutering people from the corporate brand was the worst mistake a firm could make...social media is social because it's about people".

Help yourself to the twitter accounts of AMD_Unprocessed and Intel to make an educated guess on who scores on personality!!

This is a chronicle of my experiments with social media, web 2.0 and digital communications which details industry updates and analysis from India and around the world

New media, new challenges

Written in response to a question on the communication dynamics and how marketers and communications professionals need to evolve with their consumers:

Every era is defined by the medium which captures the imagination of the masses. In the 50’s when it was said that that television would carry live visuals and sound of an event happening miles away from its actual location, there was disbelief and then eventual acceptance. Today TV defines the information priority of the masses.

With this perspective, I submit that internet as a mode of information exchange is relatively young with an evolving history. We have not even seen the tip of the iceberg yet.

What we need to understand as communicators and businesses is that the notion of control on our messages has been a long misplaced one. Control was a subset of the limitation posed by the mediums. This is the single factor, in my opinion which has changed relationship between media owners, producers and consumers.

Media no longer involves astronomical costs which led to centralized one-to-many dissemination of messages and content. Today, anyone with a computer and an internet connection has the potential of being a key media influencer and a mass media agenda-setter themselves. Case in point would be Gawker media properties, Huffington Post, TechCrunch, Drudge Report which were essentially heralded by a one man media army and now are valued anywhere between $100 – 300 million each.

There is an unprecedented information overload and access causing the maelstrom of chaos experienced today. But, this is largely due to a lack of efficient filter mechanisms and guidelines which allow a user to discover information most relevant and useful to him or her.

As social media practitioners advocating and sharing information on behalf of corporates the challenge is to make the most relevant piece of data, from the point of view of the client and the user, easily accessible. Also, internet communication operates in a message loop functioning in a community environment (many-to-many) rather than a linear message flow. This would involve high level of commitment from the practitioner as well as the institution looking to harness the potential of social media.

There are many a roadblocks in utilizing this medium which range from actual perception change potential, messaging responsibility, sound execution and lastly concrete deliverables. As technology evolves, these barriers will diminish and we will need to understand how to best deal with this new reality.

This is a chronicle of my experiments with social media, web 2.0 and digital communications which details industry updates and analysis from India and around the world

Online versus Print: Top Indian Financial Newspapers audience comparison

As a PR professional the simplest industry standard of measuring coverage I have come across has been advertising value equivalent (AVE), which loosely translates to the amount you would have to spend to buy the same space as the article appeared in a print publication.

It is only recently we have started to wonder what impact an article would have if it is carried in the online edition.

Most Indian publications treat their online editions as an extension of their print counterpart. Many of these media houses had a head start in the online space with the Hindu launching its online edition way back in 1995. But, in terms of innovation and adapting new emerging realities of web 2.0 there is a gross disconnect.

The lacks of interactivity and underleveraged potential of citizen journalism are two broad negatives that stick out like a wart. This may be due to the restrain on the part of media companies to hire new media professionals who understand the new form of reportage due to the supply-demand pressure and unproven economies of scale.

As opinions in the article “Why are print dailies so conservative with their online editions?” on exchange4media.com suggests:

A senior executive of an online firm says, “It’s like a chicken and egg situation. Media companies do not intend to have a separate sales and content team for the online edition, apprehending that the expenses can’t be recovered. Similarly, without a dedicated team, they can’t look at earning sizeable revenue from the online venture.”

“It’s also because many print media owners have already burnt their fingers during the dotcom boom, which is why they are extra cautious while implementing any online plan,” says another media observer.

So how do the online editions fare vis-à-vis their print avatars. This has been a question in my mind for a long time. Quite frankly I hoped some one could come up with this analysis and save me the trouble!

Method in madness
I compared the traffic statistics of leading English language Financial Dailies in Mumbai - in terms of brand equity and circulation. I picked financial dailies considered as they are considered as the bastion of corporate voice and have a stickiness factor when it comes to reading habits of their core audiences. Think of a “suit” headed to work with a copy of The Economic Times safely tucked away under his arm.

A comparison between their print and online editions should give an insight into their relevance to their target audiences which is mostly a captive demographic which has about 9 -10 hours of internet access at workplace and is often the sole source of news based information.

The English language Financial Dailies I chose are as follows:
The Hindu Business Line,
The Financial Express,
The Economic Times,
Mint and
Business Standard

Comparison was done using three free web analytics tools Alexa, Compete and Google trends for websites.

Below are the print circulation figures of these financial dailies as of 2009. The source is a leading PR measurement company based in Mumbai.


The Alexa Site comparisons are as follows


This is how they fare on Compete


And lastly Google trends



Google trends and Alexa (free analytics tool) do not map sub-domains (at least to my knowledge) so there may be a noise in the numbers for The Economic Times which is hosted on http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ and not www.indiatimes.com as it is compared on these tools.

Here’s a look on the numbers on Google trends without The Economic Times (Indiatimes) websites:


Findings
1. The most widely read financial publication The Economic Times has a total circulation of 2,30,000+/- in Mumbai while the online edition has the average monthly unique traffic of 1,50,000+/- (compete)

2. The Hindu Business Line with a circulation of 19,000+ in Mumbai is the lowest within current parameters. Its online edition generates average monthly unique traffic of 30,000+/- to 40,000+/-

3. Mint, which has undertaken a lot of social media initiatives on their website including the popular livemint radio by Kamla Bhatt, of the Kamla Show fame, has an almost equivalent circulation and traffic of 50,000+/- in their print and online editions.

In the same context, blogger and social media consultant Kiruba Shankar is involved with the podcast show with Business Standard, who opines "Less than 1 per cent of the total news content generated on the newspaper websites is powered by citizen journalists." [See Exchage4media article below]

Conclusion
1. Print publications in India clearly are at par and even doing a lot better in terms of audiences as compared to their online editions.

2. The clear advantage of online medium such as interactivity, dynamic multimedia content, search engine optimization, user generated content etc. are grossly underleveraged and may be the reason for the for their inability to drive proportionate traffic

3. The stickiness of print publications amongst people interested in financial news is high, which also indicates a slight preference in the favour of newspaper over online editions

4. Also, The Long Tail of online financial media in India may be a reason for this fragmented audience overlay. The leaders w.r.t access to corporate news Moneycontrol.com, Capitalmarket.com, India Infoline, Rediff Business, BSE India, etc. are popular and enjoy a loyal user base as they provide interactive content which an end user can access as per his discretion and requirements – in packets on media bytes & sections - at a time when he pleases to.

What does this mean?
While it is a forgone conclusion that print publications need to pay attention to their web properties and make them profitable by adopting web 2.0 technologies and evangelizing them down to the reporters on field.

Online media, no doubt needs to figure in the media plan of PR professionals in the financial sector, a mix of both print and online would be the ideal in achieving the desired mindshare.

Notes
You may visit the following links for further details:
Why print dailies are so conservative in their online editions
[Exchange4Media] [March 12 2009]

Growth for Newspapers Online? Yes and No.
[Brian Solis PR2.0]
[Jan 28 2009]

Word of advise
These figures are from reliable industry sources and free web analytics tools. So there may be a little noise while reporting the figures and must be understood in this context. Nonetheless, these trends, act as guidelines to the broader picture.

News feeds subscription to the online editions have not been factored which again may cloud the figures as some people may choose to read their news in feed readers rather than visit the website.

Collaborative efforts to refine the findings of this analysis are most welcome. Write to me at hemantmorajkar [at] gmail[dot] com or tweet me @HemantM

This is a chronicle of my experiments with social media, web 2.0 and digital communications which details industry updates and analysis from India and around the world

Mea Culpa: Lessons learnt from a blogging break

As a social media practitioner and a communications person, I often find myself advising people to stay connected and contribute to the broader blogosphere and the micro blog community in which they exist. Which indicates, that one must keep publishing fresh work, filled with insight, opinions, views, and just about everything under the sun at regular time periods.

The advantage is not only that you retain your reader's interest but also, search engines love updated content and crawl your property often.

By default and not design, if you noticed, the last post I have written on this blog is Feb 1 2009!!
It's just a matter of hectic scheduling and work-life priorities which kept me from crushing plastic with flesh.

Also, I did not wish to give in and add to the "lazysphere" by merely adding commentary to the current happenings and trending topics. Don't get me wrong am not as dead against it as Steve Rubel, but I see his point of view. Especially when I am forced to drudge through mediocrity to get to a great piece of work. But, then who doesn't!! And if you look closer, 50% of content (may be higher) is merely a re-hash of other people's stuff.

So here are a few lessons I learnt by not blogging for a month from a social media practioner's point of view:

1) Feeling of disconnect - I suddenly feel disconnected from the while blogging expereince. Obsessive bloggers claim to have withdrawal like symtoms akin to withdrawal symtoms felt by an addict while discontinuing drug usage. In the first 10 minutes I found it difficult to reconnect with my blogging roots. I realize it's taking me a lot longer to compose this post.

2) Feeling od detachment - This may be a good thing now, that I suddenly feel detached from my blog. Something which I was vehemently posseeive about a while earlier. Well...it's all coming back now!!

3) Embassement - Now this one is obvious. Do I need explain more??

4) Writing - Not that I consider my work here, a Shakesperean effort, but I do miss the writing and articulation of ideas as they float through my head.

5) Referencing towards better understanding - I know this one's sounds a little complicated, but it's quite simple really. I link and reference content which I have gone through and taken the time to understand. By not blogging, I an just skimming the surface of data that comes my way and leave it in the "later box" for a revisit

6) 'Link Love' and Comments - Not much link love or comments here yet, but yeah we do write for an audience don't we...

P.S. The term blogging break returns about 7,420,000 results on Google

Update 1: March 09 2009 18:10 - Just came across a re blog tool by Zemanta. Where you can jusy Talk about Aiding and abating the laziness. :P We have moved to a slothosphere with this!!!

This is a chronicle of my experiments with social media, web 2.0 and digital communications which details industry updates and analysis from India and around the world

Full Monty, Not Quite: Social Media disclosure policies

The myth of complete disclosure while engaging on behalf of clients or self in Indian social media prevails. We all mean good and some of us do follow the guidelines. But if you take a closer look, you'll find that we are secretive and deeply mistrusting

I was reading an interesting link post which is a collections of social media policy adopted by organizations and individuals.

I am to come across such broad policy and guidelines issued by Indian corporates. If I stand corrected do leave a link.

With the inclusion of NDA 's - Non Disclosure Agreement, for the uninitiated - in the scope of work contracts of most social media firms, there is little known on the "how" and "under what parameters" of what is being implemented in the Indian space.

I am not sure if social media usage policy and guidelines figure on the priority list of most practitioners or if it is merely a passing thought.

This is a chronicle of my experiments with social media, web 2.0 and digital communications which details industry updates and analysis from India and around the world

Mediaah again: Indian blogospehere takes on NDTV

In the recent controversy which took the Indian blogosphere by storm, a classical David (Blogger C.Kunte) versus Goliath (NDTV), where the blogger had to post an unconditional apology for his criticism of NDTV, Managing Editor, Barkha Dutt.

During my initial interview while enrolling in my Journo school, I was asked to write a 1500 word piece on The Times of India. In my heyday of anti establishment pro-libertarian idealism, inspired by the raspy tones of Bob Dylan, I came up with a piece called 'The Times they are a changing'.

Incensed by Medianet and a percieved unipolar media space back then in Mumbai, or so I thought, I came across the infamous Mediaah! blog controversy and the person at the centre of the storm a cerain Mr. Pradyuman Maheshwari.

When I heard about the entire NDTV-Ckunte fiasco, his feud with TOI is what came to mind. Both parties have moved on since then and Mr. Maheshwari has joined as the Editor-in-Chief of Exchange4Media.

Here's a para by my erstwhile rockstar, which is duely posted on E4M, in a piece titled 'Why face booker's and bloggers love to hate Barkha Dutt'

As someone who has had to pay much in legal fees for what I have written on a weblog, I do realise that a blog or a Facebook/ messageboard comment is as liable for legal action as is a comment in mainstream media – print, radio or television. I must confess I got carried away a few times on Mediaah!, a blog-based media site that I would run (2003-05), and when I did a fair bit of homework on the issue, I realised that my consistent criticism of certain entities could be construed as a slanderous campaign against them. And, rightly so.

Well the entire piece which gives a crib-by-crib account and is some what defensive about the whole thing. It's true that a minimum amount of perspective is necessary to objectively understand the position taken by NDTV. It is quite surprising that the voice of restrain emerges out of the most daring and talked about cowboy this side of media.

You can view the entire article by P. Maheshwari on E4M here

Gaurav Mishra, on his blog Gauravnomics, has a complete and probably the best overview on the NDTV-C. Kunte controversy on his blog which can be viewed here.

This is a chronicle of my experiments with social media, web 2.0 and digital communications which details industry updates and analysis from India and around the world

Mobile internet users to take over Internet landlubbers?

Def - Internet landlubber: Person hooked on to terrestrial connections (Dial-up, broad band...) and views any form of satellite or wireless internet usage as a disruption or a compromise to his/her user experience.

The mobile internet revolution is on an upswing. The ground realities of Indian digital technologies and infrastructure availability makes it a virtual no brainier that mobile internet wins hands down over terrestrial connections.

There are about 300+ million mobile phone users to about 5+ million broad band users in India (ref: medianama reports and numbers) which brings the comparative user ratio to 60:1 which is uncharacteristically high for a single medium and unlikely to be surpassed within the next decade.

E4M ran a article titled 'Mobile internet active users to surpass that of traditional Internet users'
which forecasts the upswing and urges advertisers to embrace the digital medium on the whole in order to gain strategic and measurable communication advantage over traditional media.

Here's what the interviewees had to say on mobile internet being more sustainable than broadband

Tewari of mKhoj said, “Yes, mobile Internet is the way forward and I do believe that the Internet story will only be true from mobile and not PC. It will be the wireless Internet and not wire Internet, and it will be more sustainable because the sustainability comes consumers and if there are more consumers on the ecosystem then that means that there will be more content, more advertisers and more money. So, that is why the Internet story from the wireless side will be a sustainable one in this country.”

Popli of Star India said, “Absolutely yes, the first experience of the Internet will be that mostly entrants will be on the mobile phone, because the mobile phone far more affordable and lucrative device than a computer. We still haven’t solved our electricity problem, so unless we have a laptop that runs on battery power and is long lasting, the mobile phone is probably the best friend of the Internet in small towns and cities for surfing the net. Therefore, mobile Internet going be significantly larger than the broadband Internet.”

Vartikar of Mauj Mobile said, “Both broadband Internet and mobile Internet have their own uses. The form factor (display/ keyboard) of mobile has limitations as compared to the PC. At the same time, the PC is restricted by its cost and the single utility that it offers, unlike the mobile, wherein browsing or mobile Internet is an add-on for most Indians. Today speeds are not beneficial to people spending time on mobile Internet, but the advent of 3G and higher bandwidth may well change that. Also, as form factors improve (large screens with touch utility) for the mobile, we will see a major shift in how the mobile is used more and more for browsing.”


I partially agree with his agreement. As far as my convenience and user experience is concerned, I will always look for a bigger screen and easily accessible buttons for doing my work. Unless the mobile screens get bigger, which would kill the purpose of a mobile, I am not buying int o this argument. Connectivity - sure. Actual work - Not really.

What's your take...

You can read the entire E4M article here [Link]

P.S. For all you Smart Alec's wondering why I refer to e4m and afaqs in my write-ups...Well, I am a PR guy after all :P Old habits die hard:) !!

This is a chronicle of my experiments with social media, web 2.0 and digital communications which details industry updates and analysis from India and around the world

Tataindicom on second life! Wonder wot are the stats...

Afaqs article today informs about Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) getting on the virtual world, Second life, for a brand campaign for TataIndicom.

While I was pleasantly surprised with the adoption of the virtual worlds, the really high end of technology communication spectrum in India, for a brand campaign, I still am skeptical about its reach in terms of target audiences.

Truth be told, I have not seen a credible statistic relevant to India yet which comprehensively sells Second Life as a mass communication option given the limited bandwidth in most offices which is required for seamless streaming and a fuller experience.

Amul and CRY have presence on Second Life. How much traffic and relevant users they get is not quite clear.

May be the team at Indusgeeks Solutions, touted to be India's first and largest virtual world development and services firm can shed some light on my dilemma.

Also, is there a India specific statistic on the potential of virtual worlds which gives out audience and demographic details in terms of usage along with companies which are sucessfully utilizing this tool to reach out to their target users.

Here's a quote by Siddharth Banerjee, CEO, Indusgeeks Solutions on partnering with TTSL:
"We are thrilled to partner with TTSL and create a benchmark initiative. TTSL has demonstrated true thought leadership in the domain of digital marketing by using this interactive, immersive, 3D medium to convey its brand story. Indusgeeks is glad to be partnering Tata Indicom in this first initiative of its kind in the Indian context."

The story ends with the expected caveat:
It will be worth a wait to see whether Tata Indicom is able to pull off a success story with Second Life, a phenomenon that is yet to grip the Orkut-Facebook crazy Indian youth.

Nevertheless, am glad that new media and virtual worlds are on the radar of brand communication consutants for effective and holistic marketing campaigns.

Afaqs article: Tata Indicom gets a Second Life [Link]

Marketers capitalize on increasing Satyam search volumes

Identifying an opportunity in the increasing curiosity amongst end users in the current Satyam imbroglio, Pinstorm, a Mumbai based digital marketing agency, designed a tactical strategy to capitalize on the search volume trend for keywords to market their client NIIT Imeperia finance courses.

Agency FAQs article which gives details about this campaign says:

The campaign is still on and some of the keywords NIIT Imperia is using to push the text ads include ‘Satyam’, ‘PWC’, ‘Raju’, ‘Satyam Computer’, ‘Maytas’, ‘Ramalinga Raju’, ‘PricewaterhouseCoopers’, ‘Ram Mynampati’, ‘Rama Raju’, ‘Satyam fraud’, ‘Financial statement Satyam’, ‘Financial crisis at Satyam’, ‘Financial gap at Satyam’, ‘Satyam financial loss’, and ‘Satyam confession’. This implies that whenever any Internet user searches for one of the keywords mentioned above, he will see a text ad for the NIIT Imperia finance course displayed on the right side of the search results page, along with the regular search results.

Quote from the company explaining the logic behind the strat
Speaking to afaqs!, Ansoo Gupta, head, global business, Pinstorm, says, “The idea was to tactically capitalise on the buzz and the rising search volume related to Satyam on Google.com. We knew that we would definitely get the eyeballs once we put NIIT Imperia’s text ads as a sponsored link on the search results page of Google.com.”

Egged on by the article and the fact that the campaign was reported ongoing, I did try the search for keyword 'satyam' (once again proving that people will do anything that they read online ;p)

The results are unexpected. Zinnov and Monster India are doing much better on the keyword 'satyam'. For reasons I am not quite sure of Monster India urges users to "apply for Satyam jobs!" They might as well ask users to go bungee jumping without the bunjee :)

Here's a snapshot of the search:

The campaign guys or Afaqs missed the bullseye on this one? In either case, it is food for thought for online marketers.

Afaqs articles you wanna see:
Who is using Satyam fiasco to run funny or tactical ads on Google [Link]
Amul will now linger on Satyam fiasco [Link]

Update 1: Jan 19 2009 11.03 am
Satyam scam, other big news hot favorites for advertisers (Livemint) [Link]

Top Indian blog list by Binary Day

BinaryDay has put out their TOP 250 Indian blog list. [Link]

Great effort, considering variable metrics have been used, rather than the usual Alexa-Compete comparison. The usual suspects are there.

I wish it could have been categorized as per industry or sector to give a perspective on the overall statistics.

Tip first seen on BhattNaturally. [Link]

Regional language content - the next big wave

The internet business needs to go local in order to thrive in an increasingly condensed digital world. End users will look for real world solutions to internet based initiatives and applications. This will determine the true potential of the social web.

Regional language content, the politically correct and probably more accurate term to what is otherwise known as "vernacular content" will determine the pace at which Internet penetration will grow in India. As infrastructure spends are increased by telecom companies and the GOI in order to spread the internet pie across the board, it will lead to early adoption in Tier - II and Tier - III cities.

Also, increasing literacy rate in India, will create a media hungry mass which would look to interpret the world in languages they best understand their surroundings in. Coupled with increasing internet penetration, as a medium it will not only decrease the cost of connectivity but also instill a culture of engagement and interactivity in users using regional content.

The future of internet as a medium for information exchange in regional content is decisively robust. But, the real challenge for marketers and social media evangelists is bridging the divide. The capability of an urban bred, tech-savvy maven to understand regional sensibilities and connect with audiences in a language that they have remotely come across is yet to be proven. Again, the limitation lies with us.

In this scenario, I foresee a rise in localized content created by people from these very centers who will excel on their own turf. To make sense of this new wave, it would require language proficiency and adaptability on the part of marketers looking to communicate and transgress to a different kind of social web and its emerging contexts.

Some important links which give an overall perspective to the regional content market in India:

IAMAI research on vernacular content market in India [Link] December 30 2008

Rajesh Lalwani's hindi "word for the day" tweet [Link] is quite refreshing. I suspect he too agress with the potential of localized content being the next big market.

Kiruba's Wikimedia initiative wherein along with an emphasis on educating users on various features of wikis, there is a focussed effort on dveloping and sharing content in Tamil.
Under the aegis of Wikipedia Academy, Chennai a workshop on Tamil wiki content is being held on Jan 18 2009. For details, visit [Link]

Amit Agarwal lists 20 odd blogs in Hindi on his Indian Blogs directory-search engine which I feel must be visited to get a flavour of conversations in this space.

Social Networkers less receptive to ads

A latest report by IDC, an international subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), says that Social Networking Users are spending more time than ever on these fora. Also, that the end users have become increasingly resistant to advertising on Social Networking Sites.

The press release by IDC says:

In fact, users are less tolerant of SNA advertising than the best tolerated forms of online advertising. Ads on SNS have lower click-through rates than traditional online ads (on the web at large, 79 percent of all users clicked on at least one ad in the past year, whereas only 57 percent of SNS users did), and they also lead to fewer purchases (Web: 23 percent; SNS 11 percent).

It goes on to say...

One of the potential benefits of SNS that the advertising industry has discussed is whether peoples' connections (i.e., whom a user knows or is linked to) could be used for advertising. For instance, publishers could show a car manufacturer's ads to a user's contacts because that user's online behaviour has indicated that she is interested in a particular brand of cars. Anecdotally, there has been some indication that this "social advertising" might be more effective than behavioural targeting.

A thought debated globally but its execution remains hazy!

Here is where conversational marketing looks to score a point over banner and click rate based online advertising strategies. The need to be a part of the global digital tribe in order to gain acceptance and provide real value to users interested ion brand by utilizing social media tools needs to be go beyond lip service and planning. Demanding clients primed in online advertising space look to implement these solutions as it is much more convienient, precise and less demamding on time, monies.

The necessity of being a part of the community "paticipant-observer" rather than a cultural voyuer" was brought home while I was reading one of Brian Solis's works. And I not forgotten this edict since as I beleeive this is what would provide true value.

The US based study may not be relevant if corellated to Indian scenario. But as it is observed with social media technologies, this trend may follow at phase 3 of adoption in India.

AnyIndia specific data on such trends? Do let me know and comment on this study.

IDC press release [Link]

Update 1 (Jan 13 2009) 1:40 pm IST

A related article from Mashable which quotes an e-marketer survey which suggest that Social Networking Sites still the number 1 growth area in online marketing

Coupled with a resistance to advertising on Social Networking platforms, it makes conversational marketing and online PR a formidable force in the digital space.
Mashable article [Link] - Social media still the #1 growth area in online marketing

Newspapers can bank on online for survival: Rishad Tobaccowala

Another exchange4media write up which intrigued me today:
Newspapers can bank on online for survival: Rishad Tobaccowala [Link]

Guess most of us sold on the potential of online as a medium saw this one coming

A few trends from the article are mentioned below:

Trends in the media
According to Tobaccowala, the single biggest trend was the globally decentralised linked network – in other words, when you put something online, it automatically becomes global and this will drive the media industry. Authenticity was what mattered now as people had learnt that they could not trust anyone in authority any more, he said.

Trends of people globally
Voyeurism: People across the globe like to watch other people and are curious to follow them, particularly celebrities.

Fame: They all want fame and they want to be famous in their own way. There are more people who write blogs than those who read them.

Facilitation: Marketing has been outsourced to consumers, these days people do their own research – from buying a car to even a mobile handset. They trust themselves more than others.

God-like: People are no longer constrained by time, place or by body, It’s like having multiple personalities. We say Consumer is King but ironically, we are treating them as idiots.

People are living in a multiple world: An increasing number of people are living in both analog and digital world. Therefore, we need to give the audience a taste of both in a well-balanced way.

Viral fever yet to catch up: Do we really need it?

Exchange4media, a premier advertising and communication news portal, in its article states "India yet to catch viral fever, but the symptoms are very much there" . This must be taken with a pinch of salt. Although, most brand campaigns strive to create that big idea which will strike a cord amongst audiences and lead to exponential online word of mouth, the truth is very few hit the sweet spot.

Virals are considered to be at the top of the communication food chain online. At least my interactions with the industry suggest so, want to know what part of the communication program would most likely to go viral!

Here's the deal. We are still thinking in terms of 'hits' and not about the various niches that one must cater to in order to make the whole effort much more relevant and cost effective. [The Long Tail] A viral may get you eye balls, no doubt. But, IMHO, it lacks the engagement aspect, wherein we loose out on the insights that end users may have to offer about the product or service.

As a stand alone too, great for creating brand awareness and increasing brand recall amongst stakeholders.

But I suspect that deployed as the end and not the means, it would be stripped of it meaning in the holistic communication paradigm.

Here are a few thoughts from the article of web marketing honcho's on the phenomenon:

Atul Hegde, CEO, Ignitee, said, “Viral ads are certainly very popular. However, the challenge is that it needs to be a true viral and should not be created for the sake of it. Virals by nature are meant to be very disruptive and a lot more engaging to the consumers, and if done in the right manner, can be a very powerful tool, but again, viral needs to be used in a conjunction with a lot of activities.”

Rishi Khiani, COO, Web18, observed, “Viral advertising is very popular, especially for youth brands. Humour adds to the stickiness of the creative and creates traction amongst youngsters, who are keen to communicate with their friend groups. Successful examples are the ‘Ghajini’ viral for oktatabyebye, ‘Mahabharat 5 Pandavas’ and ‘Chevrolet Aveo’. ‘Pankaj Udhaas’ remains the pioneering viral in this category.”

Rahul Nanda, COO, Webchutney Studio Pvt Ltd, pointed out, “The popularity of the virals can be judged by the sheer number of virals being created these days. How effective they are is another story. In our experience, two-thirds of viral attempts actually do not succeed with the audience. Virals are definitely an answer for marketers to target an otherwise advertising saturated mind.”

Having a different take, Amar Deep Singh, Vice-President, Interactive Avenues, said, “Most virals in India have been restricted to creation of a film, typically a Bollywood spoof, so it is funny and advertisers feel that receivers of the viral will forward it simply because it’s funny. Quite a few people who receive such stuff do not forward them purely because forwarding such stuff is seen as ‘uncool’ and it really does not add any value to the person receiving it.”

Leroy Alvares, Country Head, Tribal DDB, noted, “Viral advertising has become pretty popular among the users and is the quickest way of getting across the brand message, thereby becoming a good tool for advertisers. It is the quickest way of getting a brand message in a very interesting fashion.”

Link to the article "India yet to catch viral fever, but the symptoms are very much there"[Here]

What an "Idea" for social media

Idea Cellular’s latest campaign dubbed ‘Democracy for all’ which calls for participative governance wherein every citizen equipped with a cell phone is empowered to voice his opinion to the highest echelons of power, where it is uncharacteristically heard.

It has many parallels with the social media universe and what we as responsible practitioners, end users of this dynamic medium profess and would like organizations to understand.

Technology affords us a unique chance to gather valuable feedback from consumers. It is important not only to tap the uncharted potential of New Media but also put in systems and processes which aid in listening and participating in conversations, be an integral part of the global technology tribe.



Also, a comprehensive social media campaign would hold ground and prove to be of real value to a company or an individual when its worth is be measured in terms of direct benefit to its core consumers which adds immense value to the brand’s equity.

Just as the commercial represents a two-way communication paradigm between the government and common citizens, there is a need for corporates to step out of their self imposed silos and bond with the world out there.

Also, if you noticed, the advert ends with a definite “call to action” which results in an outcome. This element is often over looked by online brand mangers where many campaigns are banged out with tricked out tools but without an end result or consumer engagement as the key element.

The whole thing ends up being an “observation deck” for audiences that they look to engage. The key is to ‘converse with users’ and not ‘talk at audiences’.

As the debate rages on about the best practices to be adopted and the impact of emerging technologies on digital communication there is a lot of soul searching that needs to be done on what is professed and truly being practiced. Not only in India, but globally.

Few links which give some insight into Idea’s campaign:

1) Idea's ad with Abhishek Bachchan promotes democracy (Business of cinema) [Link]

2) Exchange4Media write up on the parallel between Rajiv Gandhi setting up call center’s to connect with his constituents via cell phone: p [Link]

3) Idea Cellular’s Democracy for all advertisement on YouTube [Link]

Social media communication trends: reflections and insights

“…to know where you are going, you’ve got to know where you’re coming from…“
Will Smith, in American sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel Air

At the turn of every New Year there is a compulsion which borders on obsession about taking stock of the days gone by and gazing into their crystal balls (no pun intended!) trying to make sense of the future.

This is how we evolve as individuals, organizations and civilization at large; by making sense of the past. Also, being involved in social media there is need felt by end users, practitioners, observers and any one else interested in this exciting space, to filter through the chaos that romps through the annals of the internet.

I had made a pact with myself not to get into a retrospective mode, simple because I felt I need to evolve as a practitioner and not state the obvious. Like, by and large there is consensus on the fact that communication on online platforms is going to be huge. Social Networking is the next big thing in online media communication. No arguments there, geniuses!

So I was a little perplexed when the same old predictions were doing the rounds this year too. It did reaffirm my faith in the potential of this medium as a platform which can be leveraged for communication (do we really need anymore convincing…!)

The stock answer to this from people sitting on both sides of the fence, traditional and digital, is unanimous that this is a nascent medium and requires aggressive evangelism to succeed as a business proposition. Especially to those who are not sold on the digital marketing / social media communication gravy train (if you know what I mean…) but are in positions of authority and power to make decisions which change the very soul of business as it is conducted today.

I agree. We need to evangelize, spread the good word. But mostly it seems that we are trying too hard to convince ourselves. Are we really sold on digital media?? Or do we probe in the dark, stirring and yearning to make sense of this chaos which we don’t quite understand completely ourselves. And, that is a reality which we need to contend with.


Here are seven most interesting resources which I caught up with while brushing up on my Social Media 2008 reflections and 2009 future trends:
(Do suggest some more posts that kick butt on this topic)

1) Pringo Highlights Business Social Networking Trends for 2009 [Link]
Pringo, US based provider of non-hosted online community platforms, CEO Majid Abai offers his forecast for how social networking will shape up in 2009

2) Looking back on our 2008 predictions [Link]
A retrospective on projections by Jeremiah Owyang and Josh Bernoff


3) Social Media Trends for 2009: And My 2008 Predictions Revisited For Accuracy [Link]
Kami Hyuse admittedly follows suit with an insightful review of her 2008 predictions and 2009 trends

4) Recap 2008: Indian online scenario [Link]
WATBlog’s “Recap 2008” series which sums up all the trends and major action observed in the Indian online business space specific to verticals such as gaming, online matrimony, Social Networking, etc.

5) Must read posts on social media in 2008 [Link]
Brian Solis’ recommendation on a must read for social media practitioners / users

6) Predictions 2009: Online media [Link]

7) The Only New Year’s Digi PR List You Will Ever See [Link]


Update:
Seven Predictions for 2009 from e-marketer CEO, Founder Geoff Ramsey
[Link]

Update2 (Jan 12 2009):
7 social media predictions by Search Engine Watch [Link]