Key findings of the comScore study showed:

1. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for the highest share of global internet users at 41 per cent, followed by Europe (28 percent share), North America (18 per cent share), Latin-America (7 per cent share) and the Middle East & Africa (5 per cent share)




2. India has the seventh highest number of internet users with a share of 3.2 percent of the worldwide audience and as many as 32 million unique visitors in December 2008
3. Meanwhile, China tops the charts in term of number of internet audience with 1,79,710 users in December constituting over 17.8 percent of the global traffic. Following China is United States and Japan whose internet visiting population is about 16.2 percent and 6 percent respectively
4. The other countries that follow in the descending order of internet usage are Germany, UK, France, India, Russia, Brazil South Korea, Canada, Italy, Spain, Mexico and Netherlands
5. comScore’s study also reveals Google sites as one of the most popular in the web terrain in December 2008. The site had about 777.9 million visitors, followed by Microsoft sites which had about 647.9 million visitors. Yahoo! sites had 562.6 million visitors and Facebook had about 222 million visitors
6. In another comScore study conducted between September and November 2008 showcasing the top ten Indian Websites revealed that Google sites and Yahoo! sites had about 19.9 million and 19.1 million visitors respectively. Orkut came in at third place with over 12 million visitors followed by Rediff, Blogger, YouTube, Wikipedia, Microsoft and Live. Interestingly, Facebook did not figure in the top ten websites in India

It seemed like the whole world was glued to their television screens to watch the Obama inauguration. Were you too? I created a small poll to find out.

Here you go:

Give our corporate website a dekko here http://scenarioconsulting.in - the post is here.

I recently interviewed my young niece, a typical urban teenager. These are some insight I was able to draw:

1. Spends 30 mins on the Internet each day.
2. Facebook rules; game has shifted from Orkut - why? Orkut is 'local'.
3. Gets Rs. 1000 as pocket money/ month; buys own Metro tickets.
4. But mom recharges the mobile (yes, every teenager has a mobile of own).
5. Her phone is her phone, only see sees her messages.
6. Given that messages cost the same as a call, both share equal proportion of spends.
7. Café Coffee Day is favourite hang-out place; Mocha is cool; Pizza Hut is visited often.
8. Visits to these places take place as a group - boys and girls go together.
9. Boys mostly have cars.
10. Cars are often pooled, as its more fun that way.
11. Most girls have boyfriends.
12. Career is primary focus, lots of time is spent studying.
13. While she is in school, there are 3-4 day coaching classes to prepare for admission into MBBS.
14. Travels over 20 kms in Metro to attend these.
15. Music is on Ipod, some on the mobile too, but Ipod is preferred as it's a focused device.
16. Shahrukh's Don is the only Don she knows; THIS is the original - she hasn't seen the one starring Amitabh and therefore doesn't matter.
17. Hrithik looks good, Shahrukh is ok, so is Amitabh, so is Salman.
18. Deepika Padukone looks desi, Priyanka Chopra is cool, Rani acts well.
19. Look conscious - eats very carefully - wants fat-free curd.
20. Family is still very-very important.
21. Parents are parents, but sense of 'fear' that earlier generations faced is gone.
22. Corrects dad if feels doesn't agree with attitude/ behavior.
23. Mom is a friend.

She clearly knows her mind. Ithis just my niece?

Urban teenagers are now clearly 'people' and not accessories to their parents. They have a life of their own, a mind too.

Careers are however still influenced by parents in big way - maybe because it is they who primarily fund it still?

In my India Social Media Trends 2009 series, here's the # 4 thought, in no order of priority.

Even as corporate blogging remains amongst the most hyped up phrases, it's really blogs & social media adoption for marketing, from simple (and yet most powerful) listening to pro-active engagement that's catching on. This year...

Expect Social Media adoption by marketers to go mainstream; focus on RoI.

I had recently written this post sharing why I thought social media is going to be a large beneficiary of an enhanced focus on online media, in wake of the economic slowdown and a clear influence on purchase decisions.

On the other hand, I expect adoption of corporate blogging to remain slow.

What could the organizations/ marketers be doing? Let me cheat a little and paste questions we recently asked marketers in the recently concluded "India Social Media Survey, Brands and Corporates" Edition 1

Question: If you are presently engaged in any social media activity on behalf of your brand/ organisation, please specify (you can select as many)

1. We have a company blog (include internal blog too).
2. Our website has interactive web 2.0 functionality allowing interactions through comments; syndication through email/ RSS ; podcasts; voting tools etc.
3. We track what stakeholders are saying about our brand/ organization on blogs & consumer rating/comment sites.
4. We regularly engage in blogger outreach progamme.
5. We comment on blogs & social networking sites whenever our brand/ organization is mentioned.
6. We upload photos & vides on sites like Flickr, YouTube.
7. We have presence on social networking sites like Orkut, Facebook, Big Adda etc. in form of communities/ applications.
8. We have a branded community of our own.
9. We participate actively on micro-blogging platforms – example Twitter.com
10. We use mobile marketing programmes to reach customers
11. We invite consumer participation in product creation through online research and ground engagement
12.Others, please specify

One of the key concerns surrounding social media adoption/ evaluation has been RoI. With a sharp focus on value, thanks to the slowdown, combined with better tools 1, 2, 3 to track/ measure, the focus this year is also going to be on measurement/ trying to evolve an acceptable matrix.

In the same survey, we asked:

What in your opinion would be top matrix to evaluate success of a social media programme? Choose up to 3 that you think are most important for you.

a. Registrations on website/ communities
b. Number of touch points with the consumer
c. Volume of user generated content
d. Increased number of participants
e. Increased stakeholder participation
f. Mention of brand/ organization in stakeholder conversations
g. Share of voice brand/ organization enjoys in comparison to chosen competition
h. Focus that the brand enjoys in social media conversations
i. Positive tone of comments, feedback, links, reviews, forwards etc.
j. Connections & conversations established with stakeholders
k. Impact in mainstream media
l. Impact on brand awareness
m. Impact on trust & transparency ratings
n. Impact on sales
o. Impact on product & service creation/ after sales service
p. Support during crisis/ adversity
q. Other – please specify

I will keep you updated about what the preferred parameters for marketers are, once the survey results are out.

In my India Social Media Trends 2009 series, here's the # 3 thought, in no order of priority.

Blogs become second skin, for mainstream media.

But first, let's just take a look back to understand the context:

Newsy blogs consisting individuals, or small teams, with no or little editorial hierarchies and baggage; equipped by sites hosted on friendly content management systems that allowed publishing on the go; a will to work long hours, even without monetary considerations; willingness to link freely (many times also adopting to brazen plagiarism from mainstream media) meant that blogs could come-up with/ aggregate meaningful content, very fast.
Given that they were hosted on Web 2.0 platforms, conversations through comments were already built-in, traction and loyalty grew.

On the other hand, some journalist pioneers were beginning to use blogs to connect with stakeholders - validate facts, seed stories, research ideas, publish stories that didn't meet editorial mandates of respective publications and more...readers were able to relate better with faces that interacted with them rather than faceless bylines.

Some bloggers developed strong communities of their own and were approached/ approached mainstream media to publish columns etc.

It was just a matter of time before the media-houses adopted blogs themselves. What was a random case, or two, until even a year seems to be gathering momentum.

Sample these:

1. IBNLive
2. Livemint
3. HindustanTimes
4. Cosmopolitan

This year...

1. Expect most mainstream media to start blogs bringing director's cut of news, building conversations.
2. Expect many of them to create touch points at places other than their own domain names (many, like LiveMint and DNA are already on Twitter
3. Expect more-and-more journalists to start blogging.

How long, before blogs start to deliver more eye-balls (and conversations) than the formal news items?

UPDATE 05 February 2009: A couple of weeks ago, Vir Sanghi, arguably the most powerful editor-journalist-columnist in India and certainly amongst the best read writers, launched VirSanghvi.com. I was thrilled to see it, not only because I love to read Vir's food writings, but also because this is what I have been saying is clearly the sign of things to come.

As I have kept an increasingly public profile, I have also become conscious about the need to segregate private, from the public.

Here are some ground rules that I follow:

1. For work, we manage communities on Facebook, and then there are some that I manage personally. My own page, however, is shifting towards family and friends. I like to share pictures and moments from life. Increasingly if I don't 'really know' a person from my own offline, or even online engagements...or through my family or close friends, I am not accepting a friend request. Don't mean to offend, or reject, anyone but just trying to keep my private space, private.
2. LinkedIn.com/rajeshlalwani Of course is purely professional, but, I am not accepting random requests from people, not known from earlier, who don't specify why they'd like to add me to their network. I am only too happy to connect, if I SIMPLY knew the context. Just adding one sentence can allow the recepient to make an educated choice.
3. On Twitter.com/rajeshlalwani I follow everyone who I can 'have a conversation with' about the many pursuits of my life - business, recipes, music, language, movies, wellness and others. Happy to connect :)
4. This blog has given me many friends, and continues to be my favourite place for conversations. Among the most painful memories for me continues to be the time when we lost over 200 comments (accidentally deleted still seems the possible cause, but we'd never really know). Many people whom I first met here, now form a part of my life in so many different ways.
5. Oops, and there the direct connect that never goes unanswered (a rule that I have forever followed) - my email :) - rajesh (dot) lalwani (at) blogworks (dot) in
   

Do you follow any rules yourself? Keep writing.

Even as print and electronic are losing takers, online marketing initiatives are finding new ground and seeing good growth. Not only is the medium flexible to reach diverse kinds of audience segments, it is also much more cost-effective.

The interactive nature of online-forums and social-media platforms ensures enhanced brand awareness as well as backs retail with reliance.

Although the major part of the sales may still happen offline; online search, reviews, recommendations, etc are only becoming increasingly relevant.

This livemint story on a Google study shares some insights:

1. Technology Products - 56% are researched online but purchased in retail stores; 26% are researched and purchased online.
2. Consumer Electronics - 53% are researched online but purchased in retail stores; 28% are researched and purchased online.
3. Telecommunication Products - Approx 59% researched online but purchased in retail store; 23% researched and purchased online.

Rural folk are a smart lot - am sure you have sampled the Jugaadu spirit yourself. Traveling through the sugar belt, and elsewhere, speaking with farmers I have learned how enterprising they can be.

Bhola (name changed), my driver of last evening, left me with much:

I had to let go of my car & driver and needed to take an auto ride instead...first from South Delhi to Mayur Vihar and then back home - all put together, over 2 hours of time spent together . Bhola, 23 years of age, offered me roasted peanuts as I got back after finishing my task - my reward for making it back in 15 minutes, instead of the promised 20 - most people overshoot by twice as promised, he shared.

He had been driving the auto for over 8 years, first in Surat when he was 15 (obviously without a license) and then moved to Delhi 5 years ago. He wakes up at 5 am everyday; bathes and dresses; fetches milk, makes tea and starts work on preparing breakfast. Menu for the breakfast, paranthaas, is the same as lunch; some days he makes sabzi too, on others he would buy that from a roadside vendor.

Work starts at 8 am, and goes on until 11 pm. The auto owner charges Rs. 450/- day as rental, not including fuel; daily sales are between Rs. 1100/- to 1200/- on an average; deduct Rs. 100/- towards fuel (CNG) and the rest is earning. Monthly savings exceed Rs. 10,000/- and are kept aside for sending back to the village.

"Who all is there back home? Will this money be used by them for monthly expenses?" I ask "They don't need the money," comes the reply. The family - mother-father, 3 brothers - 2 married, from what I recall; father & brothers manage the fields - 40 bighaa in all; we grow Mustard and Wheat, which generate earnings of Rs. 2 lacs & 1 lac respectively; half of this is profit; this is used to buy new land, make enhancements and additions to the house etc."

"What about your savings?" I ask him.

"Yes, that's being saved to contribute towards the borewell that's being planned for next year," he says, adding "The canal doesn't reach the village. The water will give us better yields for our own fields and there is great demand for irrigation water in the village. People pay Rs. 100/- per hour of pumping (diesel is paid for by the user) and 3 hours of pumping/ month is required per bighaa."

Continuing, "We will drill upto a depth of 100 feet, ensuring perennial supply of water. At approx Rs. 2.0/ 2.5 lacs of investment, we should be able to recover the investment within a year. What's more, with a borewell, the dowry that my father will receive for my marriage will go up."

I was very curious to hear this in greater detail...and he obliged.

"Last year when my brother got married, my father got Rs. 3 Lacs and a Bolero but then we also made jewelery worth Rs. 3 lacs and my father hosted a big wedding - over Rs. 2 lacs were spent on the arrangements. I should get at least 5 lacs, with the borewell in place."

We spoke about Bandits (his village is was on the fringes of Chambal) who feast at weddings and many other interesting things.

It too cold for another auto-rickshaw ride at the moment, but am looking forward to one soon.

Here's wishing a joyful 2009 to all. May it be a year to do, than wait. This video, one of my favourite, captures the flavor. Enjoy. Cheers.

Also see: Lead India - love this; hate that.