• Really, Google?

    ….and while there have discussions and rants about the need for brands to start using digital media intelligently, the news is that the greatest internet brand of them all – Google, is all set to do some traditional advertising. Google, which had followed a policy of making good products and then letting WOM do its job, is now thinking of marketing as mere mortals see it. šŸ™‚

    Last week, WSJ carried an article, (via Marketing Pilgrim) which stated that some of its “executives have been pushing for the company to overcome its aversion to paid advertising”. Though the founders don’t seem thrilled about the idea, “the search giant has recently held discussions with several Madison Avenue agencies”. The article also talks about Google having done a ‘100 things you can do with Google’ campaign in Japan, a market which has seen some resistance to the brand’s omnipotence.Ā 

    Google’s annual offline spend has been consistent at about $20 million. But they have always been doing PR, even for the bordering-on-ridiculous GMail Goggles. The launch of the G1 phone, as well as the browser Chrome had a fair bit of PR running for it. Chrome even had a comic book released specifically for its launch. It is said that the brands that tell the best stories manage to gain the maximum mindshare of its audience. Wonder if there’s a correlation šŸ˜‰

    I think there are a lot of layers to this. The general economy’s slowdown is bound to affect the internet space too, and perhaps the growth is going to plateau. In such a scenario, it is quite possible that Google sees traditional advertising a safe way to get some growth inorganically. After all, thats the way most brands operate.Ā 

    Also, while Google is loved/hated and even seen in awe by netizens, sometimes very little of its aura gets translated into the real world. Perhaps with the real world slowing down, and traditional companies and brands getting hit with budget cuts, this is a good time for Google to take itself to the next level and be seen as a sort of super hero brand that can survive downturns. This is all the more important since rivals like Microsoft and Apple have never shied away from using traditional advertising.Ā 

    Most importantly, and this is something I wish all major web based brands would do, Google, with traditional advertising, could create new audiences by showing them the sheer utility value that it provides. These could even be people who have never used the net before. That would be great news for anyone who wishes well for this medium.

    And therefore, I shall not chant ‘Google is evil’ this once, and cheerlead its foray into traditional advertising.

    until next time, I somehow don’t think Baba Ramdev is Google’s brand ambassador in India, despite this. (via Labnol)

  • Superzero

    He supposed he would just have to go through with it. After all they had warned him of this about 5 minutes after they started. He remembered the exact words ā€œ ..aur aise shuru hua Drona ka safarā€ They were right, with a small modification ā€“ from then on, the audience was forced to suffer Drona.

    until next time, drone arrgh!!

    PS. It also inspired me to get verseĀ  –

    Ticket ke paise khona, aur theatre main jaake sona..

    Yehi hain Yaaron Drona, jise dekhke aaya mujhe rona…

  • Digital User Divides (2 of 3)

    Technorati recently released the ‘State of the Blogosphere 2008‘ report which throws some light on the trends in blogging. While the numbers might indicate that the phenomenon of blogging is also experiencing a slowdown, but that depends on the definition of a blog. With the increasing popularity of micro blogging services and social networks, the stream of consciousness has more than a single host – I could write restaurant reviews on Burrp, 140 character status messages on Twitter, movie or book reviews on an app in Facebook and so on.. and when i read a great post, I might not link it on my blog, but share it on delicious…I might not be blogging as Technorati defines it, but my take on life is still being ‘broadcasted’

    So, like this article, I would say that the medium and forum of expression and the nature of ‘blogging’ is changing. There is no decline in people expressing themselves. Thats growing. As per the technorati report, among global bloggers, 2/3 rds are male, 50% are 18-34 years old, and bloggers are more affluent and educated than the general population. While Technorati divides blogs roughly into personal, professional and corporate, I’d say that the long tail of personal blogs would be quite exhaustive and of key importance to brands. The pointer to this can be found in the report itself ”Ā More than four in five bloggers post product or brand reviews, and blog about brands they love or hate. Even day-to-day experiences with customer care or in a retail store are fodder for blog posts. Companies are already reaching out to bloggers: one-third of bloggers have been approached to be brand advocates.” Ā There is also an indication of how the credibility of blogs is increasing.

    But let’s not make this about blogs, after all that categorisation is only one parameter of reference as far as the participation on the net goes. There could be micro bloggers, social networking enthusiasts, those who use the net for basic purposes and passive readers!! Even within these groups there are different kinds of users. For example, this post writes about the different types of social media users. and the roles they play in the entire system. I figured I was an EmCee, read the post and let me know if you agree šŸ™‚

    So what does all this signify for brands? A recent study claimed that only 7% of customers shared their disappointment with online transactions on blogs or social networks. While that might look like a tiny number, the perspective that needs to be added is the viral effect that it could create via the readers, and unlike the bad WOM generated offline, which would cease after sometime, the post remains for a long long time.

    Meanwhile, I read a good article a few days back on Google’s work on figuring out a number that would define a user’s influence in social networking sites, basis the same principles as Page Rank. Such an idea has the potential to completely transorm the way brands use online networks. This assumes all the more significance when coupled with the findings of this study. “According to the survey, 93 percent of social media users believe a company should have a presence in social media, while an overwhelming 85 percent believe a company should not only be present but also interact with its consumers via social media. In fact, 56 percent of users feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment…….Likewise, of younger, hard-to-reach users (ages 18-34), one-third believe companies should actively market to them via social networks” (via Marketing Pilgrim)Ā While on the topic of social media users, this is a good but slightly off-topicĀ read on the whys or rather why nots of adding people on social networks. There are some good lessons in it for brands too.

    With networks like Facebook offering different ways to interact with consumers, its time that brands took the digital medium seriously and perhaps (at least) test the waters beyond the banners. There is a great article that refers to the digital divide that exists between users and non users of social media, and the role that old media can play in bridging it. It also talks about the ‘ambient intimacy’ of a micro blogging service like Twitter – “The intimacy possible over social media is at best approximate, and the proximity at best ambient. Social media can only approximate the relationships and interactions of the real.”

    I think that brands have a great opportunity to bridge the divide too, and it is important that they utilise it. The new media puts them more in touch with their consumers than ever before, gives them the opportunity to present themselves as stories in the context of their consumers’ lives, bridge the divide as common talking Ā points in consumers’ lives, allows them to get instant feedback which can be used to better themselves, and make evangelists out of regular users. The alternative, of course, is to continue the one way communication on mass media and hope their shout is the loudest.

    until next time, can a shout be better than a viral whisper?

  • So, who else wants to be social?

    A few weeks back, I’d read about the New York Times launching the public beta of its social network. Its called Times People, but is not a Facebook kind of social network. It allows you to discover, read, share and comment on interesting things on NYTimes.com. The account is directly linked to the NYTimes.com account, so a user is logged in to the service as soon as he logs in to NYTimes. The activities the user does is stored on a personal page, and there’s even a Facebook application, which allows the activities to be displayed in the Fb mini feeds. Given WSJ’s foray into social networking, its interesting to see NYTimes becoming social , but i personally think a service like Social Median, which allows multiple sources of news, subscribing to different channels that one is interested in, and a tool bar plugin which allows sharing of content as you browse, is much more community friendly and useful.

    Meanwhile, I read today that the latest player to enter the world of social networking is none other than IBM. It has launched a service called Bluehouse,Ā  and is an online collaboration network. It allows users to host meetings, network wih partners, share files, start surveys and so on. There are several sites which allow many of these services in isolation, do you know a service which allows all of the above? (via Inquisitr)

    We are not far behind. I read an article about India Konnects, (about whom I had written about earlier) which is creating communities exclusively for industries and companies in India. It is also planning to launch city-specific and business-specific communities, and is starting with an online networking portal exclusively for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Gujarat.

    So, three different entities from three different categories working on three diverse social/business networking models.

    until next time, man is after all, a social animal

  • The Art of Giving

    There’s a theory about the internet I read somewhere that i keep bringing up in different contexts. It goes that if collective consciousness is the path to God, then the internet makes a great first step. To be in touch with the cosmos is perhaps the ideal state in spirituality, and while the cosmos does extend a lot beyond our planet, we could definitely start with being connected here first. And it is in this regard that I rate the potential of the internet to be very high.

    Every time we log in to facebook or orkut or twitter or any social medium out there, we come across people and things we didn’t know about before. It gives us perspective and changes our perceptions about who and what we are. And that reminds me of another quote that I keep using, from the Matrix series “….I do not see coincidence, I see providence. I see purpose. I believe it our fate to be here. It is our destiny…” To me, that rings very true for the web. There is a reason why a tool like this has been brought into the life of arguably the smartest species on this planet, and I for one, believe that its role is to further our evolution and bring back things that were lost somewhere along our ‘progress’ – compassion for fellow beings, and the willingness to contribute to things that lie beyond our selfish interests.

    And with that, I end my droning foreword, and would like to introduce to you, this website I came across – Rang De. No, this is not about Bollywood, but about adding color to others’ lives. I’d written about it in my other blog, and finally registered last week. The idea is to extend micro credit from socially conscious folks to the financially disadvantaged. And mind you, its not charity – you get back your money, with a modest interest.

    So I’d like to tag you guys on this. If you’re reading this, I request you guys to check out the site, and write about it (if you have a blog) or spread the word in any way you can. I have just used it for the first time, and  just got a report on how my investment would be spent. So maybe you can start with a small amount and see how it works for you. But we do so many trivial tags, maybe we could do one for what seems a noble cause. It will hopefully connect us and give more meaning to lives – ours and others’.

    until next time, add some color