Year: 2008

  • Spacing Out

    So, MySpace is planning a formal launch in April. I had written about them earlier, when they were doing the Campus Star thing with Channel V. Maybe the idea was to get in the seed users from the audience category they expect/want. This is also a case of going after Youngistan then 🙂 But this is a neat way of doing beta testing.

    Not a bad start then, because they have apparently got some 62000 users registered on IndiHub, which is a community they’d created. From what i saw, it mainly had to do with the music scene, and what has been called ‘Indian programs’. The site does have quite some Indian bands’ videos and songs. I checked Thermal and a Quarter, which is a popular Bangalore band, and it already has over 200 comments. I also happened to check for Galeej gurus, another well known Bangalore band, and found them too, though with lesser comments. Similar with Motherjane.

    With Orkut and Facebook having a major presence already, MySpace will have to find radically different ways of reaching out to their core audience, and college/other music bands definitely fit the bill. If they take over this space, which currently has no owners, they could swing a good and loyal audience their way. The other good part is, it is a good way to become a part of college fests. eg. If Galeej Gurus are going to play at IIM-B’s fest, (and they’re going to know that well in advance), MySpace can actually have communication at the venue saying visit Galeej Gurus at My Space, blog about your experience at IIM-B, connect with other fans, find out where they’re playing next and so on, instead of going about the ‘online partner’ logo way. The idea is obvious- build communities around stuff which evoke passion. The brand then becomes very contextual, relevant, and therefore something which one would immediately want to asssociate with.

    I wonder if they’re also planning the same trick with a more mass commodity – Bollywood, because in the videos’ space, i saw an exlusive interview with Ranvir Sheorey, and a Mithya trailer. This can be another great community builder. Imagine the movies’ trailers having a mention of MySpace in the same ‘Galeej Gurus’ fashion above. Exclusive interviews, trailers, chats with actors, more importantly actresses :D, downloads of wallpapers, ringtones etc – in essence, a Bollywood Hungama in a social networking milieu. Do this for every major movie that releases, actually the non major ones too, after all, its Bollywood and I’m waiting to see how Himesh’s Karzz will turn out to be (hope that numerology funda in the end doesnt turn out to be a preview)

    I wonder if this is what they are planning. If so, social networking in India will be fun because this is a good answer to Facebook’s applications, and while junta will flock to this latest offering purely because of the novelty factor and snob appeal, its important to build users and communities right, so they dont flock towards the next entrant.

    until next time, this is my space 🙂

  • Ouch

    They said it’d be painless. A few of his friends that is, who’d gone through it recently, but he always thought there’d be some trauma, more emotional than physical. And so it was, that he woke up on the fateful day, and felt an overwhelming emotion, which made him say “Ouch, did I hit 30?”


    until next time, happy?

  • Dotty

    There was this nice game we used to play as kids – join the dots. The context? Unless you’ve been living in a cave without a cable connection, the new Airtel ad should be coming out of your ears by now. No, not the ‘Having a ball at the border’ one, the new one where Papa is getting laid, sorry, getting the tracks laid, and the daughter just can’t do without his help in joining the dots.

    So papa dearest excuses himself and concentrates on the task at hand, going dotty. Its a wonderful insight on why Indian Railways is the way it is. This is what they do when they’re supposed to lay the damn rails. I have a few questions – why can’t mommy help? Why does poor daddy, who is anyway having to work at night, get to do child care also? What kind of stupid dad asks a young daughter to go to the balcony alone? Unless the kid is an astronomer’s reincarnation (with full knowledge of her previous birth), how the h*** did she manage to understand the exact stars her daddy was talking about? Most importantly, what the h*** was this ad trying to say?

    Kuch bandhan atoot hote hain, you can bet they weren’t talking about the damn rails!!

    until next time, dotted for extra pleasure? 😀

  • Oye Shaava

    And when Bangalore decided to play host to a nagging rain, we plonked our way through Church Street to have ‘Punjabi food with a pinch of Bollywood’. When i saw the ad, I was wondering how this positioning would be viable when ‘Oye Amritsar’ was so close by. I realised it would be, if its an add on to the latter. Oye Shaava is a floor below Oye Amritsar, the difference is in the ambience, a bit of the menu, and the fact there’s a DJ belting out Bollywood numbers and remixes.

    From the crowd we saw (in spite of the rains), I’d recommend you book a table if you aren’t the waiting sort. The seating was very comfortable, and we were given a decent table, with a nice view of Church Street.

    The part I loved about the menu was the half plates for starters and main course dishes. Since our appetites are not exactly XL, we’ve always sacrificed starters to do justice to the main course. This time we didn’t have to, because the starters as well as the main course had an option of a half plate. For starters,we ordered a ‘Pahalwani Dhabe de Maahi Tikka’, which is fish in English. Good stuff, a bit spicy, and exactly the right quantity for a ‘half’ starter.

    For the main course, we ordered a ‘Chitta Kukkad Kali Mirch’ and a 1/2 Bheja Fry (which is actually a starter) along with a masala kulcha, and a makki di roti. The chicken was a white gravy dish and was quite different from the regular kali mirch stuff we usually get. Definitely worth a try, if you like the pepper kind of spice. I’ve never had a bad Bheja Fry thus far, and this one was no exception. Meanwhile, the Makki di roti was the size of a small raw pappad, so we had to order another Naan, but whatver was there was tasty 🙂

    For those who can’t do without soups, there are shorbas available. There’s also a small selection of desserts available. The regular north indian stuff, so we skipped. Would definitely not recommend it for the quiet dinner type, but if you’re okay with minimal conversation and some loud music to keep you entertained, this place should be on your list. All of the above left us poorer by just over Rs.500.

    Oye Shaava, 3rd Floor, Asha Enclave, Church street, 080-41122877

    Menu at Zomato

  • There’s a little bit of social networking in….

    For all those who’ve been good and watching TV, the source of that one should be a lollipop. There are some 4-5 ads of AOL doing the rounds, which you really couldn’t have missed. What’s the context? Well, i read here, that AOL is buying out Bebo for $850 million. Oops, I should’ve told you to hold on to something. Bebo is UK’s #2 social networking site (after Facebook) with a claimed base of 40 million users. Put this in perspective with the eyes  that popped when Desi Martini was picked up for $10 million. I really woudnt be able to offer any intelligence on the valuation, so lets stick to the core competency of this blog – brand +internet.

    Now, Indian online entities have picked up this strange habit of using the reach of TV to sell the concept of email. Remember rediff’s infamous Hoohaa ad, followed by the unlimited ones. Zapak has also been a big TV advertiser. Indiatimes has been making me suspect if i have jaundice for sometime now. Strange, because, while i understand the reach of TV, I’ve never seen the big guys ever do TV (or have i missed something). Its only the locals + AOL who have been eating up TVC time. And except for rediff, I have never used any of them for my email use. (and that was before the ad) I’m quite happy with yahoo and gmail. More importantly, I’ve seen their advertising in the place where it matters – the web. Context, anyone?

    So, I’m guessing, that AOL with those ‘young’ attitude ads was looking at reaching out to the youth audience (isn’t that who everyone’s after?) by showcasing its features in a fun way. While e-mail is the one of the best utlities to use as a carrot, I’ve a different idea for them. Bring Bebo here, lets have a solid ‘fatal fourway’ match with Orkut, Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo. If we include Big Adda, Minglebox, Yaari etc, its a royal rumble. Meanwhile, what AOL has to do is rope in Kareena Kapoor as brand evangelist.

    Did i just catch a ‘Huh?’ from you? Okay, for those of you who look down on Bollywood gossip, Bebo happens to be Kareena’s (quite well known) nickname. Kareena would anyway make a good icon (for the guys because she’s hot, for the girls because she’s smart). Add to that her name connection and the Bollywood effect, and i think we might have some fun here. Imagine weaving in hits like ‘Jab we met’ (in her filmi life) and things like the Shahid Kapur mouth to mouth resuscitation MMS, the Saif gossip being exclusive content on the site, do you need to do extra things to get hits?

    Meanwhile, to increase this weekend’s productivity, you can read a very neat post on SEO and SEM right here.

    until next time, anyone expressing Aitraaz? 😀