• OfferGrid

    OfferGrid provides activity based shopping network solutions to merchants, e-tailers, daily and group deal companies etc. In conversation with co-founder Deepankar Biswas….

     

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  • On the first death of Facebook Commerce…

    Towards the middle of last year, I’d written a column at afaqs on how social and commerce were in a relationship. A few months later, I revisited the premise on a tangent and wrote an article for Kuliza titled “Social + e-commerce ≠ Social Commerce“. (pg 25)

    All through last week, after the Bloomberg report, in which a Forrester analyst phrased it as “But it was like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar“, I’ve been reading post after post proclaiming the demise of what has been called f-com. (Facebook Commerce) It finally made me tweet this

    I realised later that a similar statement had already been made – “Opening a storefront does not mean you have a social commerce strategy…” ~ Justin Yoshimura. In fact, f-com itself should only be one part of a brand’s larger Facebook strategy. The advice being given to brands, along with the news of the demise, is that they should make their own e-com sites more social. Fair enough, but what I don’t get is the mutual exclusivity. Indeed, if brands have adopted an f-com strategy that basically allows users to buy the same things available at their e- store, I wonder why they thought users would flock there. Yes, it does give the brand visibility, proximity to the customer, use of the social graph (like, recommend, share) etc but to the user, there’s really no value. In fact, f-com checkouts are apparently much slower.

    Examples of ‘inherently social businesses’ (entertainment, music, games) are being taken as exceptions to the closure trend. IMO, every business (arguably) is inherently social, the trick (actually the hard work) is in finding the social context. Many brands have created value through fan-exclusives, (Heinz) CRM initiatives (Starbucks) free sampling (Pantene) etc. I can understand that coffee is probably social, but shampoo and ketchup?

    Part of the fault is to do with the astronomical predictions on the kind of sales these Facebook storefronts were going to generate, part of it is to do with the trigger-happiness that unfortunately shadows most of everything on social platforms.  If brands learned to also pay attention to interest graphs on the network, and create scenarios that use the inherent (and phenomenal) social graph and new features like friction-less sharing better, Facebook can play an excellent role in the overall e-com strategy. As always, the answer is in focusing on user behaviour and experience and not allowing technology and fads to create a myopic vision. The old adage holds – Fail fast. Learn fast. Fix fast.

    until next time, f-c’mon

  • Why knots

    I was watching Priyadarshan speak at an award ceremony (on TV) about his new Malayalam movie starring Mohanlal and Mukesh. This ‘combination’ was hitting the silverscreen after a span of 10 years, and thanks to their history (early history I’d say) it was a special occasion. I had planned to catch the movie in the theatre but after reading (and listening to) the reviews, gave up the thought.

    On another channel, Mukesh was claiming that though Priyadarshan kept saying he would not do a comedy again during the shooting, its ‘acceptance by the masses’ would make him rethink. (Oh noes) But there was one interesting thing he said – that when one discovered one’s purpose in life (Priyan and film making) he/she feels constantly compelled to keep at it.

    D and I discussed whether Priyadarshan (and Mohanlal), who by now have their coterie, can be objective about their films. The box office collections, which is probably as objective as it gets, would be high anyway thanks to fan clubs across the state. There would be bouquets and brickbats anyway too. How can one be objective about those? In our own cases, how many of us can actually objectively take what’s usually called ‘constructive criticism’ for presentations/concepts/ideas? Or even praise for that matter? Now scale that to an effort that costs crores and months and imagine.

    But if one thinks of it in a simple questions framework, (for now, I’m ignoring when and where) once the purpose or objective (why) has been determined, the what and how is determined by asking who is it for. And if the answer to ‘who’ happens to be the self, then everything else is probably superfluous -dependencies, costs, and even feedback. It stops being the creator’s problem, and becomes the consumer’s. However, when there is no clarity on the purpose, the superfluous becomes the driver. And that’s the trap most of us are probably in.

    until next time, trappings 🙂

  • Weekly Top 5

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  • Huckleberry

    First published in Bangalore Mirror.

    The original Adventures of Huckleberry Finn begins after Tom Sawyer and Huck come into a fortune. In the modern day Bangalore retelling, an investment banker couple build a brick oven on the terrace of their parents’ house; the pizzas become a rage, the idea of a wood fired pizzeria is born; their friends get involved in the décor – painting all the chairs- and the rest, is a restaurant! Located on 100 feet Road, Indiranagar, after the CMH road junction when coming from Koramangala, and right next to TOIT, on the first floor. (map) Yes, valet parking is available, and two wheelers can encroach upon the wide pavement!

    In addition to the Tom Sawyer-ish paint job above, the place also owes its name to a berry that has a second degree connection to the kind of cheesecakes it specialises in, and managed to fit in well as the fun, whimsy name the owners wanted.

    The best tribute that one can give to any original work is to ensure that the character remains alive. And character is something Huckleberry has oodles of. From the tree that nonchalantly makes its way up through the restaurant, to the painted chairs, the funky graphics and the wooden fireplace, the place somehow manages to mix a lively, vibrant ambiance with a warm, laidback feel. Peppy music at just the right volume adds to this. Tom Petty seems to be a favourite. But that’s enough about the place, and on to the menu before you start yawning! The printed menu only has a few pages and focuses on pizzas, drinks and desserts, but they augment it with a weekly special menu on the blackboard.

    When pizza’s on the mind, starters might seem a bit of a distraction, but a few things on the menu looked interesting. The Herbed Lemonade, in which basil, lemongrass and green apple vied for attention, had basil emerging as the clear winner and also did a good job of whetting the appetite. The Berry Happy was a mix of cranberry, strawberry, grape and lemon juice, but what it really did was to take us back a few years – to the time we consumed Poppins by the dozen! The only drink that disappointed was the Virgin Mojito. In case you’d like to experiment with wines, or wine based cocktails, there are a few options available too.

    The Chicken Consommé soup came with its own dumpling but the mild chicken and caramelised onion flavours didn’t really impress. The Chicken and Prawn Bruschetta was a much better dish – crispy bread with the chicken version being helped by a creamy cheese presence and the prawns aided by herbs. The pick of the starters was the colourful Spicy Chicken Salad, which actually lived up to its name and didn’t take advantage of the ‘salad’ – the chicken wasn’t just a token presence.

    The Smoked Turkey pizza was an automatic choice and Rithika (the co-owner, who helps out at the restaurant after her day job!) suggested that we add a jalapeno topping. It worked brilliantly with the cold cuts and the herbs and made it our favourite main course dish. The Meat Feast had a stellar cast including lamb and pepperoni but lost its pizzazz a bit with a slightly burnt thin crust and its disproportionately high contribution to the bill.

    The Baked Pesto Chicken was the most photogenic of the dishes and the creamy pesto sauce was ample proof that it wasn’t just a pretty face. But the Pan Seared Sea Bass with Lemongrass and Coriander was unfortunately just that. Though the fish seemed fresh, it was also quite bland and the rest of the ingredients were just titular. The Chicken Tortellini was reasonably good, but could’ve been made better with a thicker, creamier sauce.

    There is a significant chance that when I visit this place next, I’d start with the desserts. I’m usually quite racist when it comes to chocolate and prefer dark over white, but the White Chocolate Mousse (with lime) easily won the desserts crown. The Dark Chocolate Mousse tried valiantly, but though it kept its status as a reliable favourite, it was an unfair fight from the time we tasted the other. If you don’t mind a strong cinnamon flavour, the Huckleberry Special is something you might want to try. The Blueberry Cheesecake got the texture right, but I missed the tart flavour and the cheese presence was underwhelming.

    A meal for two here would cost about about Rs.800, with which you could share a non alcoholic drink, a non veg starter, a non veg pizza and a dessert. You’ll get that bill in a folder that has an image of the first edition book cover of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. With a unique identity based on its food and ambiance, Huckleberry is probably a place that you’d like to visit more than once, for its homely charm and lively atmosphere. Mark Twain’s has said “Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.”  So don’t be afraid to try out the pastas, pizzas, wine and desserts all at one go. 🙂

    Huckleberry, No: 298, 100 feet Road, Indiranagar, Ph: 8040917416

    PS: Huckleberry takes an off on Monday.