Edelman and Brandtology have jointly brought out the second edition of its Digital Brand Index for India. Covering the last quarter of 2009, this edition of the study tracked 154,492 online conversations pertaining to 104 large technology brands contained in 306 influential channels.

Here are some of the brands that emerged on top of the charts:

From the first edition of this survey in the previous quarter, i.e. July to September 2009, Samsung(Client) is now ranked #4 among the top 10 buzziest brands in India this quarter, i.e. October to December 2009; and the only consumer technology brand to feature in the top 5 (Google#1, Microsoft#2, Yahoo!#3 and Apple #5) during the period Oct-Dec 2009. With Samsung showing a significant leap of 3 positions in the list of top buzziest technology brands, it is reaffirming to know that some of the social media work we did for Samsung India's Social Media campaign has shown results.

The study also derives that there has been an exponential 123% increase in the number of brand mentions for Samsung during Oct-Dec (6,548 brand mentions). The Samsung Corby Colour Wars contest on Twitter as part of our Social Media campaign for Samsung India is likely to have contributed to this quantum leap. Our own post-activity analyses had shown around 3000 mentions of Samsung Corby, amounting to nearly 615000 exposures.

It was also interesting to note that many of the insights shared by the report are being employed by the team in our approach already. Sharing some key insights here:

• Brands should integrate their digital communication along with their offline communication for best results
• Marketers should consider implications of timing, alongside targeting and channel selection as a part of a social media engagement program
• Conversations grow early in the week, spike on a Wednesday, and then taper off towards a weekend
• Leading online content creators (influencers) are actively being wooed by brands
• It's time for brands to build the next set of influencers who are not sceptic about direct communication, and are likely to be influenced by the sheer gesture of reaching out

Do share your thoughts on the study too.

It was at the Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi, on the eve of 26/11 that the thought first struck me about our changing attitude towards 'frisking' in semi-public spaces, particularly ones patronized by the privileged like us.

My friend Devdutt Pattnaik has written about rituals impacting beliefs.

Set in a changed context, beliefs around a ritual also change.

The act of being frisked has been frowned upon by all of us, a violation of personal space - our mind yelling "You don't trust me?". Security barricades and frisking at luxury hotels, or similar spaces, would be a complete no-no, a discourtesy, just a couple of years ago. However, in a changed context post 26/11, Mumbai (not that these were the first terrorist attacks, but the first impacting the elite), frisking, coupled with enhanced security and scanning devices, has come to be seen as an assurance - the mind giving a comforting "I think I can trust you!" signal.

This is perhaps how, over a period in time, culture is shaped.

I have earlier written about the E Factor in advertising, combine it with cutting edge messaging and you've got a winner.

Most parents try everything to ensure that their children are able to live their dreams, unlike many that they themselves could not. You know anyone who didn't grow up dreaming of becoming a movie star/ rock star/ star cricketer/ footballer? I don't. Powerful insight converted into a memorable an interesting series.

Don't you love these 2 TVCs from Aegon Religare? I am sure there others in the making...

Enjoy.

One of my colleagues suggested that the message "ताकि हमारे बच्चे वह बन पाएं जो हम ना बन
सके" seem to suggest that we want out children to live 'our dreams'. I interpreted it as, everyone wants their children to be the 'star' that they themselves could not, rather than associate it with a particular activity/ vocation. I agree that it is subject to interpretation. What do you think?

Last night, I and a friend and peer of mine, a very senior & respected public relations professional, were chatting over the phone about personal stuff and the talk swerved towards Twitter for a few minutes.

He, a Twitter newbie, probed on why are people motivated to broadcast essentially one-to-one messages over a public stream on Twitter?

Intuitively I replied:

1. In an increasingly exhibitionist world people increasingly want to 'flaunt their conversations/ thoughts' to a larger audience - ever so often the person with whom they/ we may be conversing with, over Twitter, may in fact be live with us on GTalk too
2. This flaunting is also sometimes about 'who' you are having this conversation with - the equivalent of a 'names dropping' - for fans there is a certain kick in being able to have one-on-one conversations with @gulpanag, on Twitter

Both harmless...

1. In a more productive way, a purposeful conversation that first started one-on-one, might be joined into by our respective friends and peers, adding perspective and thought - not possible in a private one-on-one tool
2. More people in the public stream who found the conversation interesting might join in to add value, and also become friends
3. We/ others could easily share links/ sources/ resources adding further value and knowledge

Collective knowledge creation and sharing...

For marketers and communication professionals like us, Twitter, and other social networking sites, are subject matter about people behaviour and how content and knowledge is being, or will be, created and shared besides trend-spotting.

It's been over a year since I wrote this piece about Twitter uses for HT. What are the new ways in which you are using Twitter?

UPDATED 11 June, 2009 - 10.25 am - Even as I decided to unpublish the post, within minutes of it being published, many had already read it. Next morning the newspapers carried an item on the front page about an alleged retaliatory attack against perpetrator of the first attack against an Indian citizen in Australia. Some people have requested me to publish the post again and I am doing so now...

The original post is below:

The recent racial attacks against Indian students in Australia had me searching for this insight that I had shared in focus group, a few months ago.

India and Indian have, for centuries, been victims of racial discrimination . When it wasn't the colour of the skin, the accent of its people gave them away. As a poor, third-world country with a large illiterate population its people suffered meekly for decades.

However, advent of satellite television; urbanization of landscape and changed demographics with a large youth population coupled with rapid economic growth that put India amongst one of the fastest growing economies in the world (even after the slow-down from which India too is impacted) have led to a new, confident Indian, which is good.

Slowing economies in the developed world, jobs lost to India and elsewhere have polarized the populace in some way, sometimes leading people to react there the way they previously may have - discriminate based on race - e.g. Outburst again Indian outsourcing (abuse that BPO employees face).

India's youth however is not prepared to take it lying down anymore - he/ she is turning brash too. Today they simply quit jobs where they face abuse, tomorrow they might turn back and respond.

Should we fear reverse racialism?

Impact

It is difficult to predict impact yet but clearly this is not a face of Indian youth known to the world:

1. Indians are considered a hospitable community and that feeling may take a dent


2. Can impact cultural relations between populations of countries: India Vs Australia cricket series (Symonds versus Harbhajan, or the other way round) soured relationship, even though it was limited to cricket grounds

Indians are at the receiving end again. And it only adds to my fear, and forbid were that scenario were to ever emerge, it would be truly sad.

Please note: I will be strictly moderating all comments on this post, so please stick to the subject of societal impact and do not deviate from the purpose of social studies. Thanks in advance.

Sometimes I really don't understand why brands do the things they do. Take the new global 'Go' campaign by Visa.

The description along with the ad on YouTube saysIt's one tiny, two-letter word that makes amazing things happen. Go is action. it's the spark that starts the flame that sets everything in motion..., and then you put a stop after go. You put a 'stop' after Go? It just doesn't belong there - a stop is, the end, it kills motion, it says the action is over. Sigh.

See the ad:

Over the last couple of weeks I have been speaking with a lot of people, regarding the slow-down in the economy, to get a sense of impact on their respective businesses - some are already hit, others are worried about orders/ contracts not being renewed; everyone is bracing themselves for times ahead and planning action; view regarding how long the slowdown will last vary - from 6 months to 18 months or longer.

Salary cuts are being discussed/ implemented (I think, as a necessary first step, a temporary salary cut is an eminently better way of managing the situation than firing staff).

Newspaper reports suggest marketing & advertising budgets are being scaled down.

According to a recent poll by marketing consultancy firm R3 of at least 50 marketers who manage around 100 of Asia’s top 500 brands, three out of every four Indian companies will spend on marketing in 2008-09 as much as or lower than what they did in 2007-08. And a study released recently by media specialist Zenith Optimedia said growth in advertising budgets in India in 2008 would be 4.5% (over the previous year) compared with a 24.5% growth in 2007 over 2006.

>>>

"The events since the credit crunch have hit marketers hard,” said Greg Paull, co-founder, R3. Paull predicts there will be significant reductions in marketing budgets in the coming year, even in growing markets such as China and India.

>>>

He added that at least 40% of Indian marketers said they were going to spend more than originally planned on digital media, direct media and promotions.

Why am I not surprised by the last comment? And, I believe that social media is going to be a large beneficiary of this increased spend.

Last two years have showed that categories, organizations where availability of budgets was an issue, adoption of social media has been faster. Similarly smaller/ mid-sized brands/ organizations have adopted social media faster vis-à-vis large brands/ organizations - they had more time than money and were hungrier.

Now however, many more marketers who had it easy until now, given the boom of last few years, are forced to look at new ways to reach the customer - keep existing ones, tempt new prospects to buy - this in times of salary cuts/ job loss - and do this with same/ reduced budgets.

Add to this Internet's strategic importance and increasing impact of social media on purchase decisions, are you surprised that blogs & social media spell the new wave?

I expect more marketers to:

1. Listen to what customers are saying.
2. Engage with existing customers to build and enhance relationships.
3. Leverage social media to build communities to narrow cast, rather than use expensive broadcast tools.

I expect more organizations to:

1. Engage with stakeholders - internal/ external - to win trust, retain knowledge (crucial if you are gonna ask some people to leave), motivate, bring policy change?

And all the other things we know blogs & social media can deliver.

Adoptions now will, of course, continue to deliver value even as good times roll in... again.

Slowdowns like this are good drivers for innovation, as I witnessed at a workshop recently, but let's keep that for the second piece of the series.

Expect the slowdown, on writing, to continue until end of October, due to personal commitments. I will keep writing intermittently though.Come November, I am back with a vengeance :).

The Relive the Learning series I started earlier got great response, and we have already touched upon:

1. Say more in less.
2. Close the loop.
3. Don't presume, ask instead.
4. Make things idiot proof.

Here is the last from the 5 learnings I wanted to share:

"Your tone will decide the results."

1. "Did I catch you at the wrong time?", you ask, as you call me on the phone.
2. "Well, I am a little busy, can we speak later?", I reply.

How about trying "I hope it's a good time to speak with you? I needed a minute". I might actually be busy and you may still get a no, but I still prefer the latter version. Positive tone, and phrases, evoke positive responses, I believe.

1. On days that a former colleague, from a public relations agency we used to work at, was unwell or feeling weak, I would strongly discourage her to call journalists on the phone to pitch a story on that day - chances of success would be bleak. Rather that the she wrote an email and followed up on the phone next morning, or handed over the task to another colleague, just for that day.
2. Organization ABC is facing a potential crisis with the sudden departure of very senior colleague. The news needs to be communicated to the customer, but there could be repercussions. A communication is being drafted:

   - Senior colleague has left; we were expecting it to happen; we thought we would inform you. Expect your support.

   
   A little probe leads to the discovery that the senior resource had done did precious little in the last year to deliver business impact. That the team is well entrenched and is delivering value. The team-lead had recently been promoted. As a result of the departure, another senior person with relevant skill-sets had been pulled into the team. The CEO has decided to jump into supervising the relationship and a new, very senior professional, has been admitted on the advisory board.

   There seems to be a plan. Then, why not communicate that too?

   The revised note for the operations team at the customer-end highlights the team's work, promotion of team-lead, shares the news about additional resource brought in, thanks and shares good wishes for the colleague leaving. Additionally a note is sent to the key stakeholders at customer-end about departure of colleague, about CEO's enhanced involvement in the business and the addition of new member on the advisory board.




3. Mass sealing of commercial establishments, including consulting services, operating from residential areas in New Delhi in the recent months has meant dislocation of many start-ups. A friend's web services business too shifted from a more central, but not so cool, South Delhi locality to a not so central, but bigger, institutional address, in West Delhi.

   A mail communication to all business contacts started with an apology on the distance (which client visits an agency office in the first place?) instead of celebrating the new office.

What would you have done? Your tone will decide the results.

Keep writing.

A recent telephone conversation with a friend, a senior communication professional, prompted this post. Do your own experiences as a participant in the communication profession, whether as a veteran or a newcomer, whether an agency or a client validate this paradox? A somewhat controversial one...

It is a paradox emerging from today's business reality and the situations it creates, range from hilarious to frustrating - depending on who you are, and where you are at that point.

The booming economy, of the last few years and (some claim slowing down now) and the resultant demand for communication professionals by organizations has meant:

1. Talent is in short supply, compared to demand.
2. Corporates are often willing to dole out higher pay packets, in comparison to most agencies, leading many executives to prefer these, over an agency job, which is also considered more rigorous/ stressful by many.
3. Most corporates, other than the larger ones, are not able to accommodate very senior talent, given the business need, ability to pay/ justify the payout, match the growth aspirations of these senior professionals and so on...
4. Where the organization is indeed large, senior talent is busy on the big picture mandate and often have a team of mid-level and junior colleagues assisting.
5. It is this layer that often engages with the team from the public relations agency on a day on day basis.

Herein lies the paradox, or the situation.

1. A more experienced team from the agency is engaging a relatively less experienced professional, the client interface.
2. Senior involvement from the agency is 'expected' whereas senior involvement from the client maybe simply be 'not being priority' or not available in absence of said talent.

On many occasions a relatively less experienced client will look to towards the agency leadership for learning and guidance, but on many times ego comes in and the resultant situation may look funny to a spectator, but not so to the agency team and leadership.

1. The senior team from the agency is trying to explain the big picture to a relatively less experienced client, who is just not able see it .
2. A less experienced client sharing a clumsy assignment brief with a much-much senior professional, defeating the very value of 'distilled learning' that experience brings with it.

Net losers:

1. The brand
2. The relationship.

Do share your thoughts and experiences.

I just got back from gurgaon where I was dining along with family and two interesting thoughts I wanted to share:

1. We decided to eat at Nirula's today - the meal was wholesome and nice. Just as I was finishing, I told my girlfriend that I will open a restaurant someday where we'll serve food for free. We'll call it 'free diner' or something. So why will we serve food for free? And how will we make money?

   Well, I believe, in a consumerist society a substantial chunk of revenues, going forward, would come from promotions, advertising, etc. But the thought that struck me today was that we will allow a select guest profile to consume a portion of any one item for free. In return, the guest would help us fill a detailed survey report for a client's brand.

   My girlfriend gave a disapproving look and said, "Would we get the relevant customer profile?" Valid question, I thought and discounted it by saying that as an example, the mall environment where the restaurant might be located will act as a natural filter to audience profile. But would this audience WANT free food??

   Hasn't it been tried before?

   In fact, it makes me wonder what stops the telecom service providers to immediately start a separate revenue stream for themselves, with a built in pay back for the customer, with regular (but not overwhelming), short, one question survey service to an opt-in customer base. For a certain number of surveys that I am required to reply to per month, I get a certain value of my mobile bill added as talk time.




2. On the way back home, we passed 'American Express Campus'. About a dozen workers equipped with pulleys and ropes were installing a large American Express logo cut-out. The office, I could see from the transparent glass facade, was busy working the night shift. Wasted opportunity, I thought.

   Why not get everyone out, make some noise, celebrate, get the team to put up the logo together. Pictures and stories would keep everybody busy for the next few days, and it would become a memory to cherish.

   What do you think?

Blogworks - Blog the Talk discussion series was conceived to feature the best of learning from the ‘live web’ through panel discussions, talks and one-on-ones – mostly conducted online.

Blog the Talk series is presented by Ideafarms, an IT smart-sourcing company, providing enhanced business value to its globalised clients, through disrupting thinking and innovation.

Growing ambitions of enabled writers who have emerged with the advent of blogs; prolification of digital printing technology; adoption of digital reading; a plethora of tools to disseminate, market and promote content online, among other things, have all led to the emerging phenomenon of 'self publishing'.

Having tasted popularity with their blogs, but not necessarily succeeded in monetizing their blog journals, or to seek even greater authority and stature as thought leaders, many are taking the natural next step by publishing a book.

However, most of the traditional publishing industry, particularly in the India context, continues to operate exactly like it has for years - submit a manuscript; they seek 6 months to revert - rightly so, given that they receive hundreds of unsought manuscripts and quality control is highest priority. However, there is no guarantee that your manuscript will even reach the right hands and be evaluated for its worth. Although some publishing houses have started to look at blogs for content/ writers, but publishing contracts have, so far, been awarded for 'popular' content.

Simply put, writing contracts are not easy to come by. What does an eager author do? Enabled Publishing, as I like to call it is the route that many are choosing.

Read this interesting piece published in Mint recently - large, new players are stepping in too.

Joining me today to discuss the phenomenon is my friend Ajay Jain.

A bit of a pioneer, Ajay has dabbled in diverse things including, IT hardware , sports management, dotcoms and real estate. He jumped into publishing after stint as a journalist with The Financial Express (graduated in journalism from the prestigious Cardiff University, UK) and published The Campus Paper : powered by his editorial team and hundreds of student journalists - and this much before the term citizen journalism became part of common lingo - he brought out a publication by and for the youth.

Recently he chose to go with enabled publishing, to publish his first book: Let's Connect - using LinkedIn to get ahead at work.

I wanted to benefit from the learnings and asked him...

All thoughts expressed by participants are personal opinion of respective speakers and do not represent the views of Blogworks or any other company/ organization.

Rajesh:Ajay, congratulations! Tell us about the book.

Ajay:In the world of social media, LinkedIn has emerged as the hottest professional networking site in the world leaving all competition far behind. And India is their third biggest market after the US and the UK.

My book talks of the principles of using this site to get ahead as a professional. This has been divided into specific topics like expanding your Rolodex, using it as a personal branding tool, for sales and marketing, tapping the inherent wisdom of the LinkedIn community through Q&As, for finding a dream job, for hiring people and a few other thought provoking suggestions. Major emphasis has been laid on interviewing existing users who have shared their experiences and opinions which readers are finding most useful; these include from the likes of Guy Kawasaki, well known author, entrepreneur and investor.

It is not a user’s guide; it talks of the bigger picture. So don’t expect screen shots, or tutorials on how to use the site. But it does cover the usability factor to the extent you generally know how the site works.

The following extract from the back cover of the book may be a useful read here:

LinkedIn has made the world of business a much smaller place. The contacts you seek are no longer separated from you by six degrees; the number is down to one, two or three in most cases if you are on LinkedIn, by far the most successful and vibrant of all professional networking sites.

And it has leveled the playing field in ways one could not have imagined. The community of LinkedIn users can now be used by anyone for accessing faraway markets, landing dream jobs, raising capital, attracting the best of talent, building corporate brands and more. What you can achieve is limited only by your imagination and effort. The ingredients are all there to whip up something profitable for yourself.

And it is not rocket science.

This book is full of ideas, real cases and suggestions on how to get LinkedIn to work for you. Because, as you will see, LinkedIn works for you even as you sleep.

Rajesh:Do share, why did you think about publishing the book yourself? Why not go with a mainstream publishing house? You have the necessary credentials, you write well – you would have found someone to publish the book for you.

Ajay:I figured this is not a book that can be sold through conventional means; key to its success would be a direct and social media marketing strategy. And there is probably no publisher in the world who would make such an effort; I know of publishers who have come out with books of a similar genre in the US but have asked the authors themselves how they planned to promote the book. In other words, the author has to be the CMO of such a book too.

It would have been fine to let someone publish the book, and I promote it. But the dampener would have been the commercial side of it. Publishers typically pay an author 10% of royalty, and that too after a lag running into many months. Neither the quantum nor the cash flow would have been enough to sustain any marketing campaign by me as the author. I thus decided to self publish it, keep a higher margin for myself and invest that money into marketing. I have already recovered the investment in the first print run by selling only 40 percent of my stock. This would not have been possible with a publisher where I spend on promotions and he keeps the cream of the profits.

Rajesh:So what were the various options you considered for publishing/ printing the book?

Ajay:I did consider print on demand offered by companies like Lulu. But this was an expensive option and would have turned away buyers. Yes, there is no initial investment here but the consumer is more concerned with the end price. Publish on demand works best for niche titles and coffee table books which have a relatively lower offtake. I decided to settle for self publishing by seeking out designers, editors and printers myself (I have considerable experience in such production) and made a go of it. I had to apply for an ISBN number which I managed; you cannot sell any book through trade channels without this.

Rajesh:So finally what happened?

Ajay:The book is out, in select stores but more importantly being offered directly on my blog www.techgazing.com/linkedin (where you can read sample chapters and get reviews, access the media kit and get ordering info) and Amazon. I have come out with an e-book version of the same, and have sold a substantial number of these too.

Rajesh:What were your key learning from the exercise?

Ajay:Lots. And some are still learning-in-progress. Here go some:

1. Setting up a distribution network through brick and mortar stores is a big challenge. I have still to overcome it.
2. A need to ensure the printer is an expert at cutting and binding books as it is a finer process than for a magazine or a newspaper.
3. Setting up online stores on Amazon.
4. Getting ISBN numbers and printing barcodes.
5. The economics of the game: Up to 55 percent of your cover price goes to the distributors + the cost of sending books to their warehouses. You can imagine how much money one is left with after sending books to the US to Amazon: they keep 55 percent + you ship to them at your cost. Add to this the cost of editing, design, printing, promotions etc and you realize why books are profitable only when they have sold a certain minimum number.

Rajesh:Ok great, now that the book is out, how are you planning to promote the book- online and offline?

Much excitement coming your way with Blog the Talk- 6 lined up. My friend Ajay Jain
shares his learnings on, what I call, enabled publishing. That's in a couple of days...

For now, we go back to the Relive the Learning series that I left incomplete. So far we touched upon:

1. Say more in less.
2. Close the loop.
3. Don't presume, ask instead.

Today I am taking up "Make things idiot proof".

To begin with, let me reverse the title and say it is not the recipient of the message who is an idiot, we are:

1. In presuming that the recepient has the necessary background - when in fact, she/he may not.


2. In using complex language or jargon - when the recepient may not be even be from our industry.


3. In not specifying the sought action - what do you expect the recepient to do after having consumed the communication?

Simple actions might help in keeping it simple:

1. Give each communication a life of its own - make it complete, maybe share a background? Continuity, by the way, is one of the "8 Cs of the communication". Remember them?

   Communication is a continuing process in which repetition is helpful to the memory and understanding.

   Read the document once after you have finished writing it. Does it sound complete? Would you be able to make sense of it if you were not in fact the writer?

2. Keep it simple - I speak no jargon, for I know none. Assuming that you do, must you rely on jargon and complicate your message? Jargon has increasingly become part of common lingo and yet in an increasingly complex world, simplicity cannot but be a virtue.

   If YOU are fundamentally clear about what you want to communicate, it should be possible to keep it simple. Give it a shot, say whatever you want to say - directly, simply.

3. OK I heard you, now what do you want me do? Spell out the action you seek from the recepient. Is it just FYI? Then say so. Do you need to hear back? By when? Anything to be done? Sure, then say so.

   Nothing that you didn't know and yet all of us miss out from time to time, so it's a good reminder for myself.

Like always, the story is not complete without your comments. Keep writing.

Today's Hindustan Times Tech4U page focuses on "What Blogging Did Next" and features 2 main pieces on the subject.

In the first piece, titled Hum Blog, Twilight Fairy of Delhi Bloggers Bloc talks about the blogging scene in general and Delhi in particular, online and offline.

The second piece, written by me talks about Twitter.

You can find the newspaper version here.

My longer, unedited version, is below. Choose whichever, but do leave your thoughts:

“Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the most viral of them all?” I asked.

“Twitter, O dear sir!” answered the magic mirror without doubt.

Twitter , the service that lets you stay connected with friends, colleagues and family through exchange of short message updates, sharing “what are you doing right now?” has achieved almost cult following among its users, many of whom are celebrity bloggers and internet influencers from across the globe.

So what really is Twitter?

I could tell you that Twitter is a micro-blogging platform (messages can contain a maximum of 140 characters) and a social networking site (connect with and friends and make new ones). I could also say that it is blogging on the go and lets you disseminate and receive messages using the web interface, an internet messenger/ desktop client or your mobile phone. All of these are correct.

However, think of it as a café, people keep coming, conversations are perpetually on, someone leaves, and someone else joins in. You chat with your friends and acquaintances regularly and ever so often you also meet one of their friends. You join into their conversations and make new friends in the process. Someone you didn’t know earlier reaches out to connect; you do the same when you want to reach out. This café is virtual, but the people are real and they do meet up often – at work, at parties, at Tweet ups (offline group meets of Tweople, or Twitter users).

Like someone said so beautifully on a Social Media Today podcast “Twitter is like talking to friends on way back home from school, reading their blogs is like reading their homework.” No wonder Twitterholics prefer Twittering over even singing ;).

But what makes Twitter so special, so viral?

To understand this, it’s important to understand the genesis of Twitter for the service is based on some powerful insights:

1. The Always on internet environment has less dependency and focus on a web page and that the desktop, widgets, IM are gaining importance.
2. Mobile is quickly becoming the ubiquitous converged device and is increasingly married to the internet.
3. Bloggers, already addicted to posting, were/ are looking for ways to disseminate content quickly, on the go and without having to spend a long time in crafting it. That they were/ are also looking at ways to share their content across multiple platforms.
4. Successful services will be those, which allows users to find unique and multiple uses for the service and that to do so, it would be important to:

   - Becoming the enabling layer

   - Allow other developers to use the Application Programming Interface (API)

   - Create a network but also use other networks to reach larger mass of users/ consumers

The result is a service that lets you use its web interface to push the message, but you could have easily have used your G Talk client or simply sms’d the message instead, using your handset to now an India short-code (5566511).

The moment you did so, the message would be received by people ‘following’ your feed, on their preferred device – mobile handset, IM, or simply their Twitter web-page. You could, similarly, get their messages if you too were following them.

Powerful, you’d agree, but it doesn’t end here. You could display yours and your friends’ messages on your blog using a Twitter widget, let the message be seen as your status update on Facebook (which is where more and more of your friends are) and so on. Add to this many dozens applications and mash-ups developed by 3rd party developers (find them at here) and you have one of the most visible and sticky service on the internet today.

So how are people using Twitter? Honestly, new uses are coming up every minute. Here are a few:

We continue in our business communication learnings series. I am getting great feedback from many of my younger friends and would try and write specifically for them more often.

In this post, I am taking up "Don't presume, ask instead."

“I thought!” is the commonest and potentially the deadliest excuse that anyone can use to explain a task gone wrong. I would rather look stupid, but I would ask and ask again, than presume when I take a decision. Don’t confuse this with strategic risk taking kind of “I thought” but particularly when carrying out a task and specifically when it is an instruction. Also when we are not in possession of complete information.

I will share one of the most powerful learning experiences of my career – this seemingly innocent incident/mistake caused significant damage to MANY relationships.

A very senior artist was our guest of honor for an upcoming annual event- something that been the practice for the last many years. This particular year, the big boss, friends with the gentleman artist, was overseas until just a few days before the event and wasn’t able to do the necessary telephone conversation etc until quite late. The situation therefore needed even more delicate handling…'

Anyway, our guest agreed to come and it was decided that a formal invitation would be hand- delivered home. The responsibility was mine! The function was scheduled for the next day.

I supervised that the invite was carefully prepared and handed it over to my then secretary, with clear and specific instructions that it was to be hand-delivered. He heard, assured necessary action would be taken.

Next evening, Sunday, the guest didn’t arrive until event time. My boss was getting a bit anxious and so was I. He called up the guest, who said that he hadn’t received the invite. I was handed over the phone, same reply.

“Did you check at the studio, Sir, maybe it was delivered to the studio by mistake?” I asked. “No, it isn’t there either, I checked.” was the reply from the other side. No requests could convince him to change his mind. The event of course happened quite smoothly but he wasn't there.

Next morning, a particularly disastrous one on other counts too, was time for us to diagnose the problem.

I asked my secretary if the packet had gone, he assured me that it had and rushed to get the PoD receipt – even as he rushed, he understood what had gone wrong. There wasn’t a driver available to deliver the packet and he had simply couriered the packet, thinking, it would still reach.

It would have been fine too, except he was doing so on a Saturday, for a SUNDAY event, and the packet would reach only Monday – a day too late. Ask, ask, ask.

Mistakes can happen with anyone and the boy was meticulous otherwise, enhancing my own performance many times over. I took the responsibility but it proved to be an embarrassing and a costly episode on counts of relationships it impacted.

Luckily though, my then secretary is now an MBA and doing extremely well for himself and remains family. The lesson served him well and me too. I don't presume, I ask instead.

Cheers.

We continue in our business communication learnings series. In this post, I am taking up "Close the loop". Let me try and share a simple example. I am sure you have experienced it yourself:

1. Our client, Ram (fictitious name), calls me seeking inputs from a recent study. He needs these for a presentation scheduled for tomorrow that he is preparing.
2. I am not at work but call up my colleague Rekha (fictitious name) and request her to send Ram the required inputs.
3. Rekha puts together a summary document, attaches the study and emails these to Ram.She gets busy with piles of other work that she has lined up.
4. I receive another call from Ram an hour later, sharing that he was out of office and wondering if the inputs were sent. I promise to get back to Ram and call up Rekha again, who confirms that the mail was sent an hour ago.
5. I message Ram that the inputs have been sent to him.
6. Nice work Rekha did but forgot to close the loop.

It might have saved the two additional calls (and possible stress) if she had messaged me back confirming that desired action had been completed, or based on the relationship, messaged Ram too, confirming the same.

I have seen a former boss, Managing Director of a large hospitality/ entertainment operation, tearing his hair out day after day, shooting message after message, memo after memo, just to seek confirmation on whether a requested task was completed.

I am sure there are more complex situations that you have encountered in your own business lives where closing the loop could make all the difference.

Save someone the angst, earn yourself the respect - close the loop.

I have, over the last week or so, been sharing some of my business (added later) communication learnings with a younger colleague. These sound very simple, but aren't, and can make all the difference as I found, sometimes after having paid the price for overlooking.

1. Say more in less.
2. Close the loop.
3. Don't presume, ask instead.
4. Make things idiot proof.
5. Your tone will decide the results.

In this post, I am taking up "Say more in less" and will try and complete the entire series in this week. Hope this helps some of my other younger readers.

There are several different mistakes that all of us make in our business (added later) communication:

1. When writing, we like to ramble on, write so much text that even we can’t remember where we started. What was the message again? Hmmm, it got lost somewhere.

   
   I found, and have made it a standard practice, to edit all text after writing it and if possible, share it with someone else who I could trust with further editing. I find that 20 percent less text, without losing any value from the content, is not very difficult and even less when you then hand it over to another editor. Try it, you will find message clarity and retention will be far higher.

2. Similarly, Open-ended sometimes prolongs the process. Think through and then communicate. Sample this conversation over text on a mobile:

   
   Q: Can we meet sometime?
   A: Sure

   Q: How about next week?
   A: Sure, should be possible.

   Q: Ok, thanks, how about Wednesday?
   A: I am out of town on Wednesday.

   Q: Oh, how about Thursday then?
   A: Yes, that should be fine.

   Q: Ok, where do we meet?
   A: You say.

   Q: Costa, GK?
   A: Ok

   Q: What time?
   A: You say

   Q: 3.30?
   A: Ok, what is the context?

Phew. Of course I am exaggerating a bit, but you get the point.

How about this instead?

1. Q: Hi, I was wondering if we can meet sometime next week. Need some business advice from you. Does Wednesday, 3.30 p.m. Costa at GK work for you?
2. A: Hi, sure we can meet. I am traveling Wednesday but Thursday same time, same place should be fine.

Write in your best learnings.

Where reputations are concerned, bacteria's case can safely be termed 'quite weak'.

Generations have grown up being told that bacteria are the cause for many of our health problems. Tiny microscopic creatures have been blown out of proportion - a million times over - to be painted devil in all communication. Products that prevent the entry of bacteria into our food, air, life have thrived. Nobody ever told us bacteria can also be good and healthy.

Then, suddenly, marketers are asking us to gulp some million of them bacteria, over breakfast, and dinner - drink them, eat them, lick them they say. Bacteria can be good for us they tell us; some kinds of bacteria.

Nice, now try telling that to the average guy or better still, the average mom. Try convincing her to give her little ones a dose of health, via bacteria, and you got yourself a task.

Factually correct, scientifically proven, Probiotics have been used in food for many years, but it is urban India's recent engagement with wellness and health that has presented a new opportunity to marketers in our country.

Since milk and milk products are a staple across the country, we have seen a flurry of launches in the last year or so. It started with yogurt and ice-creams with top manufacturers launching their versions simultaneously - Mother Dairy, Amul, Nestlé.

Other additions have been probiotic drinks - Yakult came up with a milk based drink. Mother Dairy has also launched Nutrifit recently, also a milk based drink.

In the opportunity, lie the challenges:

1. Explain Probiotic - the term's fairly new in the Indian context:

   Companies did engage in some communication around the times of launch, leading to relatively better recall and understanding amongst the top-end customer. The masses though will need much more work in form of direct engagement with key influencers - mothers, doctors, nutritionists etc. Yakult, for example, has appointed Yakult ladies for door-to-door education.

2. Reposition Bacteria - changing perceptions around bacteria will be a task:

   Do we keep bacteria on the forefront and make it the hero? A 65 ml bottle of Yakult has 6.5 billion of the live bacteria in each pack, much more than competition.However, I am yet to try the drink, for all its promise, the thought on gulping pure bacteria has been quite unappetizing. It is a perception game.

   Mother Dairy's ad for Nutrifit, on the other hand, brings the promise of 'immunity' upfront and makes a much subtler mention of 'friendly bacteria'. The drink comes in multiple flavours, packing is colourful, so is the communication - featuring a couple of active kids. Nestlé too has done well in terms of multiple flavours for its Nesvita Dahi. That makes the category appealing to a larger audience.

The market is still very nascent, will it mature towards categorization as the average consumer and the serious health conscious? Or, will the average consumer take on more mature offerings (say Yakult) where health comes first, taste isn't primary? Both maybe - time will tell.

Marketers will also do well by differentiating the category through unique packaging and also guiding users on correct usage, including warming any whom the product may in fact cause damage, due to an existing health condition?

Interestingly enough for a category that demands education, not many marketers are using their websites to that effect:

1. Mother Dairy: No mention of the category, no FAQs
'

2. Amul: Has a link that mentions their sugar-free and probiotic offering but then takes you to their cyber-store. There's a press release on an award that they won for the probiotic category at World Dairy Summit. No FAQs


3. Nestle: Has a page for Nesvita and for Nesvita Fruit Yoghurt.


4. Yakult: I couldn't find an India website. UPDATE: Shefali left details of the India site - here you go.

I have been using probiotic yogurt for the last many months - it does work well for my tummy. Have you tried any of these products? How do you think the category will evolve? Social media can play a role, what do you think?

Do share your experiences and thoughts.

Reading an email this morning, I got reminded of a senior journalist friend, with whom I used to professionally interact (very actively) at one point in time. She, then editor of the top selling daily rag; I, then head of promotions for a hospitality company, managing one of city's top entertainment/ culture venues, among other things.

A lot of prominent celebrities would visit/ perform at the venue - theatre, cinema interactions, gigs - and press interactions were regularly scheduled. She would always want exclusives with the 'A List' and because it would be of mutual value, we would sometimes try and accommodate.

She had an amazing, not so good, quality though: even when seeking a favour - we were clearly antagonizing other media houses for denying them photo ops/ interviews - she would always position it like she was doing us a favour. So, even though we would get visibility, it wasn't a feeling of joy and win-win.

This morning's mail does exactly that, and perhaps goes beyond: it comes seeking, what is clearly a favour, without any 'mutual value' but then positions it exactly the opposite. No request, no humility, no thanks in advance - nothing.

A win-win is about both parties winning, not when the seeker alone wins + wins again. Even that would not be a problem, only it needs to be sought with humility.

What do you think about what makes for a win-win. What would be your response to this mail, if at all?

Promise statements don't just need to be 'honest to God' true to unique value that a firm/ offering brings, but also be relevant to times and the immediate environment in which this firm/ offerings operates. So, when we launched Blogworks™, in December 2006, we were amongst the very few operating in the social media consulting space.

Our introduction said:

1. Blogworks™ is a specialist communication offering, delivering strategic solutions and know-how to brands & corporates for using ‘conversational communication and marketing' effectively.

It continues to read exactly the same today, but something has changed - our promise statement or what many would call the 'tagline'.

It used to read: Know-how for brands & corporates. Until yesterday.

The need, thus far, was to educate our market - brands and corporates - on relevance and impact of the new environment.

We got the word out... by conducting workshops, speaking on panels and at seminars, writing extensively on this blog and through mainstream media to reach the audience that we could not have reached here. There were a few others in the community doing the same. This part will continue.

However, the good thing is: the needle has moved some as marketers and corporates begin to understand impact. Some have taken first steps and are benefiting from insights and engagement that social media brings. They are doing so either by quietly listening to ongoing conversations on blogs, forums, social networks OR, some are now directly engaging through blogs, blogger engagement programmes, communities, applications, widgets and more...

A lot of it is still tactical. Nothing wrong with that either...

On the other hand, the new opportunity also means that more communication firms are jumping into fray. Many existing ones have introduced/are planning to introduce their social media offerings.

Do/ will all of them offer the same services? Bring the same value? Obviously the answer is NO.

The time has come to position our respective differentiated offerings uniquely, to stand apart.

Where do we fit into this at Blogworks™? We are clearly about "Strategic Social Media Solutions".

1. Strategic: We clearly differentiated ourselves, from the beginning, by delivering strategy to clients based on their business need, in alignment with company and marketing objectives and by integrating social media and conversational marketing into the big picture.
2. Social Media: Not limited to blogs, today's dynamic internet and social media scene is bringing new tools & concepts each day - social networks, applications, widgets and more. We are focussed on leveraging those that have impact for our client's respective need (or can reach a point of impact). Familiar with the concept of Category A, B, C in terms of mainstream media to determine impact and relevance for 'your business' ? Not everything is relevant for everyone or has the same impact. Which one will you choose?
3. Solutions: We are your one team interface to handle all conversational communication and marketing needs.

   - Blog & Social Media Strategy

   - Design & Development - blogs, wikis, forums, social networks, applications, widgets;

   - Content: Content development, ongoing moderation

   - Outreach and Engagement - communities, insights programmes with bloggers

   - Blog & social media tracking and analysis.

   We have, over the last few years - it's been 3 years+ since I first started to speak with clients about blogs - developed strong and trusted relationships with our partners in technology, design, research and insights from peers in other evolved markets.

Any low-entry barrier business throws the challenge of commoditization of and the way to stay differentiated is by staying true to your purpose.

Ours is about enabling transparent and ethical conversations between our clients and their stakeholders.

Cheers.

UPDATE, 1 April, 2008: I was talking to someone about this and explained that ideally our promise statement should talk about 'conversational communication & marketing' because that's what we really do, except it might be a little ahead of its time, in the India context, to use it right now (too many explaining will be needed). Therefore, will the line likely change again? I don't have a moment's doubt to answer that - YES, it would , very soon I hope.

There is no escaping. Wherever you go, they are playing the same music...

I was at our neighborhood Costa Coffee outlet the other day, having decided from work from there that afternoon. At first I didn't really notice, engrossed as I was working my presentation for the next day, but soon I had it coming out of my ears. The same music had been playing in a loop, for the last 2 hours. I requested the staff to change the CD - they were keen to, but that was one of the two CDs they possess and the other one was...well, missing in action.

It didn't have to be a Costa, it could well have easily been a Café Coffee Day or Barista. It could be any of our otherwise fancy malls or it could be any food-court. It didn't have to be 'that' day, it could be just 'any' day.

Ask the staff on why they play the same music over and over? You usually get the same reply - they have just one or two CDs allotted to them. In fact, I think everyone has pretty much the same compilation. The airlines too share a common CD, it would seem. The only difference - instead of popular 80s, they prefer western classical.

Selecting music for a public venue is not easy, having managed the task, among a hundred other marketing and promotions things I was responsible for during my days with a hospitality company. We had many different restaurants, function areas, gym and a health club - each had a unique character and the music needed to be likewise + it need constant updates. It was an interesting, but certainly a challenging task.

We are a 'musical' country, to say the least. Why then would marketers not experiment with music they play? Is it because it's nobody's baby? Marketing? Promotions? Housekeeping?

It's like someone remembers to install that funny perfume spray in the washrooms, but nobody gives a damn about the music.

Couldn't we give our customers, guests something more interesting? Could it become a differentiator?

I can understand that 'folk' or 'classical' might not have universal appeal as landing/ take-off music on a flight, but some nice fusion?

We have some great music being created in the country right now; live gigs have become weekly affairs. Why not play some more recordings from there at our coffee bar or the mall?

Or at least change that damned CD, would you?

Photo courtesy: Dan4th's flickr collection.

It has been among an intense week at work and also of insights.

1. Conversational Marketing is NOT about online, it is about Conversations.

   
   One of the brand managers from a client we really enjoy working with, called yesterday to share a road-show proposal from a community that we have been interacting with online for some time now. We brainstormed for a bit and an exciting idea emerged, which we agreed to pursue. It wasn’t the first such proposal that we have received.

   In just a few months of our interaction, we have seen participation from and buzz within the community that we reached out to through our web initiatives – groups, a surprise marketing idea and pro-active engagement on a feedback and insights programme. We didn’t really interfere in the natural flow of conversations, just kept the direction and flow going through minimal interventions from our side.

   Still early days but the results have clearly been encouraging - conversations, feedback (good and not so good) has allowed the research and development team to get real inputs from customers based on first-hand usage, in real life situations. Customers, used to not being able to reach most marketers, even with complaints, are finding it a change that brands are now pro-actively seeking feedback and engaging one-on-one. That there is, in fact, a real person and not just a ‘Feedback Cell’, who is directly in touch.

   We are now planning the natural next step and hoping to seed a ‘co-create’ programme. The number of people we have been able to connect with is still quite small and it will take effort, and time, to reach a sample size large enough to take diverse demands into account but it’s clearly the way to go. We are also ucky that the brand already enjoys fantastic goodwill with the customer, making the task much simpler.

   However, the point is that online enables conversational marketing like nothing else, thanks to its interactive nature, speed, reach but Conversational Marketing is about real people and two-way interactions first. What we do with them is up to us. That it only starts online and the relationship extends offline is clear - doesn't it work exactly that way for us too, with a community building around our blogs, soon enough we are meeting over coffee, at events and before we know...there's relationship and trust.

2. Clients value our passion, but also our balanced inputs.

   
   An SMS exchange between a senior business leader, whose organisation we have been given an opportunity to work with, and me, reminded me again of the faith (and resultant responsibility) that our clients put into us – it quite humbling - and of Toby’s question for her Valentine’s Day post: What builds relationships between a client and the agency? I had replied “Passion for the client’s business!”

   However, it takes a lot of trust on the client’s part of see value in not just our passion for what’s now ‘our’ brand, but also in the fact that even as we work closely as part of the team, it’s important that we retain balance like sometimes only an external resource could.

   The SMS exchange, which continued intermittently through the day, was us trying to agree upon a differentiated line to sum up our business promise, that we had met to discuss the day before but there was still work to be done.

   We haven’t agreed yet, but are getting closer to our ‘honest to God’ promise :).

BTW, a blog upgrade is underway, but in the interim do write in your feedback to 'comments (at) blogworks (dot) in. I know it's not the same... it isn't even for me and I just haven't written as much since the time comments were disabled. Let me see if we can find a temporary solution by tomorrow. Wish us luck! :)

These trend prediction things are scary I think. I mean how many of them will be egg in the face? :)

I was taking a peek at my first post of last year, summarizing possible online trends for 2007, to see where we stand - let me know your thoughts:

1. Online will gain ground rapidly - am I imagining it or so much really happened in just one year?
2. Marriage of mainstream and blogs - expect more of it this year.
3. Experts and thought leaders joining the blogosphere - too little really.
4. Aggregators will have an important role to play - expect more of it this year.
5. Human intervention to bring out what’s special - Mahalo - people powered search, is gaining ground; social bookmarking has gone mainstream.

   Sanjay Trehan, NDTV Convergence had an interesting comment at a panel discussion I moderated recently - a study suggests that usage of organic search actually declined by 6%, on the other hand people finding content directly or through bookmarking went up 4%.

Do you smell Mobile-Internet as the thing to look out for this year? Other than consumption of Internet via the mobile - I think we can expect more mobile friendly sites and blogs - mobile enabled communities might be the thing to watch out for.

I was chatting with Gaurav this morning to plan the next Blog the Talk discussion, which I thought should be around Mobile-Internet aspects covering micro blogging tools likeTwitter; community enablers likeSMS Gupshup etc. and how they will likely impact marketers.

My last meeting of 2007 was with a friend who runs one of the leading mobile marketing companies in India. We spoke about possible threats to the traditional short code business, and also the opportunities that the new environment promises for companies operating in the mobile space.

I have been thinking about how the public relations agency might evolve in the next couple of years. Advertising went through this change much earlier - the dominant full-service agency made way for multiple new formats - the creative hot-shop; the media buying agency; the media planning agency; the account planning agency and so on... sure the full service agency survives too. I think public relations offerings might be due for radical change. Three trends are influencing/ will influence change:

Domain and vertical expertise

As public relations gains deeper entrenchment into several key functions within the organisation, specialist offerings providing greater understanding and rigor in respective domains have found takers. Clients have similarly found value in deeper knowledge and contacts in respective verticals. We have already seen this happen in:

1. Domains: Public Affairs; Investor relations; Internal Communication


2. Verticals: Technology; Aviation; Entertainment

The trend is likely to continue and more verticals like Sport etc. are expected to find takers.

Social (People) Media

The advent of blogs and social media have given rise to a completely new set of 'influencers' - "where earlier mainstream media alone was the key conduit through which information traveled and opinion was formed, no longer is the individual dependent on just the media to be heard – s/he speaks for herself/himself through blogs, podcasts, videos, wikis and these individuals are coming together on social network sites and content communities."

It is clearly a different environment - the participants are different, playing with a different set of rules, moving at a speed that's far rapid. Even mainstream media has had to evolve, adopting many ingredients and participants from this new environment.

So, who is where? The India Scene.

If we look around, it isn't difficult to tell that most 'mainstream public relations agencies' in India are, at the moment, somewhat lagging in their understanding of the space. On the other hand are the mainstream advertising agencies - they are usually prompt at adding new sub-brands/ divisions to keep alive their 360 degrees claims and this time is no different. Interactions with (many of) them however won't give you the confidence that they have the understanding - they understand the terms/ concepts alright, but do they understand the underlying principles of Social Media? I am not so sure, when I see rampant Astoturfing a la Silky Kumar and others. They are uniquely positioned though to get the client to spend the money on social networking sites of their own :) - did you see ROI being hit for that long twenty20 six? Yes, there it goes...

Among the 'interactive agencies', many of who which are run by friends, I know only one which is building 'serious capabilities' in the space and I respect them for the intent and the effort they are putting into it. Most others, under pressure from the client, are working towards finding 'mentions on blogs' as an extra service. Extra for extra money? Am not sure about that. The answer may lie in gaining strategic understanding to the tools & concepts and integrating them into the offerings.

However, advertising, and related creative, has mostly been about driving traffic and sales. Do the latter two players have a strategic understanding of 'reputation'? Public relations agencies, with their inherent understanding of reputation and engagement may be naturally suited. Somewhat lagging at the moment, as they may be, are still the logical owners of the social media domain, I think.

There are also a few dispersed social media consultants - successful bloggers/ enthusiastic tech wizards; loads of energy, good understanding of the tools but perhaps lacking, again, in understanding of reputation. Would a large Indian or global brand trust their reputation to such a team? Depends on the risk taking ability of a brand manager or the communication head.

Blogs are but a piece and there too the game has already moved beyond mere blogs into social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut and others and micro blogging phenomenons like SMS Gupshup and Twitter. There too, which tools/platforms have gained critical mass? What's the impact? How do we leverage!!...is the game and not just being in the know of every little sneeze on the social media scene.

Even as we ourselves developed our strategic blogs and social media offering, we were very clear that 'this' is only half the story. The other half is combining such an offering with our understanding of mainstream public relations and marketing. So, that's how we have been approaching our work - combine the two for holistic management of reputation.

So, clearly, social media offerings in isolation don't work - integrated public relations is the way to go. How will this get achieved? Mergers? Strategic tie-ups to gain reach and scale could be a way forward.

Technology Intervention

Barring internal knowledge management portals of a few large agencies, technology usage for a typical public professional was, until recently, limited to email and Google search. This is changing rapidly and technology will play an increasingly crucial role in disseminating messages; connecting with stakeholders; managing costs - both of outreach and employee cost. Technology will also, like in every other business today, bridge the divide of size, offering a comparatively leveler playing field to smaller players.

1. Online wire agencies, many of them allowing free uploads, are helping agencies reach their messages - across geographies; faster; cheaper.


2. Social Media Press Release, Press Release Optimisation are fast becoming SOP.


3. Contacts and content accompany the professional- my friend Paul, a US national, has been traveling across India, Europe for the last many months. Without missing a beat, he continues to write speeches/ press releases for his US based clients and disseminates them, currently from Paris? Oh, not sure where he is at the moment, for it doesn't matter - he is online and live wherever he is.


4. Concepts like The News Alliance and others, when they come alive, promise to offer platforms for professionals to combine social networking, with content management and message dissemination, providing great ease, minimal intrusion and reduced spends on time and money... offering great value for the professional and business owners alike.

Public relations in above scenario is clearly going to be divided into strategic and operational offerings. Something that on the lines of the advertising business, can be split over two or more agencies - one for strategy and direction; one or more for operations.

Such a format would make immense sense for clients who want best-in-class, on somewhat lower budgets. The full-service, multi-specialty agency will continue to drive value for global clients working under one umbrella.

As participants in the space, we are clearly living in interesting times.

What are the scenarios you see emerge? Which ones that I mention you agree/ disagree with? Do share your thoughts, like always.

Chhavi included me in the lunch meeting with her friends at the Press Club, last Saturday. Both of us had agreed to meet a bit earlier and were first joined by Piya - her friend & business partner in their exciting - new radio venture. Don't know when the talk shifted towards discussing street kids, selling stuff at traffic junctions - their challenges, their smiles, their lives.

Chhavi and Piya had bumped into a group, the evening before, and had an heart-warming account to share. The kids and their smiles were captured on the hand-phone. Both, back in the country fresh after many years overseas, agreed that the kids were 'wise', besides of course being street-smart.

I have watched these kids go about their work at traffic crossings and, other than admiring the survival instinct, have often thought about jumping in to conduct training sessions, to help them sell better.

Sometimes I roll down the car window and share tips that I think 'might' work:

1. Whenever I see this one happening, I can't help getting upset.

   
   Either you beg, or you sell! If you are not begging, then why is your tone that of a beggar? If you have CHOSEN not to beg, then important that you don't. Don't disrespect your work and yourself by 'begging' the customer to 'buy'. Sell with dignity!

2. Last week, I was approached by a young boy selling paperbacks at the Bhikaiji Cama Place crossing. He had 16 or so books, spread like fans over his two hands, and ONE book he had somehow managed to keep out of the pack as his 'star'.

   
   With barely a few seconds to see which ones he was holding, and the 'star' of no relevance to me, I advised him to try holding fewer and change his 'star' based on WHO he was approaching- management books for those who looked like executives; fashion for women etc. Am sure he had practical issues, like time, to worry about, but I thought it might work.
   
   He said he made Rs. 200+ a day! Not bad at all, already!

3. I have told them that I will never buy that rose for my gf, if they hold it out to me crying and scratching their head, but might do so if they asked me with a smile to take it back for 'Memsaab/ Didi', that she would love it/ love me for it.

Don't know if these or any of my other tips would actually work, but there is no way I would find out until I try. So, if you are reading this and you happen to belong to an organisation working with street kids, I would like to participate.

On the other hand Chhavi, Piya and I agreed that us executives and corporates could actually LEARN from these kids. Now how about these kids conducting training!!?? You agree??

Blogworks™ Ad Affiliate Network is committed to connecting influential bloggers with relevant advertisers/marketers and vice versa.

Micro Marketing is the acknowledged way forward for many a brand today. Many individual publishers today enjoy as much credibility, and sometimes reach, as traditional media and marketers are beginning to see value in associating with them.

However, blog advertising, isn't necessarily the same as mainstream advertising - it doesn't have to be; maybe it shouldn't even be...

Reasons are many: where mainstream online ads are mostly focused on numbers and clicks, advertising on blogs and independent author sites may need to focus on brand associations and sponsorships with the site, its popular properties; widgets and other creative and dynamic ways of reaching the audience.

An injudicious focus on plain numbers and traffic, on these neo-publishing platforms, usually leads to disappointment for both the advertiser and the publisher - certainly the publisher.

For example, a blog with page views running into millions is no-brainer, but what is the value of a top research scientist's blog - read in-turn only by a few hundred other scientists - as a recruitment ad vehicle for a research lab? Or to build traction with that community? We think very high - focus on pure numbers, in this case, is not that important. On the other hand a youth blog will perhaps need numbers to support it's advertising claim. Both publishers are valuable, but need different approaches.

Similarly credibility matrix' that are purely based on just 'number of links' can often be misguiding - it is not lost upon any of us how easy it is to generate fake links.

That's where the Blogworks™ Ad Affiliate Network comes in:

What's in it for blog writers and publishers!

1. No worries - you write; we market
2. Creative options - we deploy our past learnings
3. Transparent deals - we value your content and effort
4. Choices - does advertising in traditional media compromise credibility, it doesn't 'have to'. You stay in control, you choose

What's in it for the advertisers/ marketers!

1. Influencers - high-quality; hand-picked
2. Bouquet Offerings - by verticals/ readership/ geographies
3. Single Window - so you could painlessly participate in blogs/ social media
4. Risk free - many options, reduced impact in case of dropouts

If you wish to register your blog into the programme, fill in these details on and send across, with subject line - Enroll for Ads. Feel free to tell your friends too.

We are constantly learning and participating, join in with us.

Disclaimer: Please note:

This is not a 'pay-per-post offer' and wouldn't infringe upon your editorial integrity.

Writing in to us doesn't necessarily 'include' you into the panel or guarantee any advertising

Hmmm, so you wondering why this may have won theCannes 2007 Grand Prix? No story - go and see.

Oops, forgot :) : It is the Dove Self Esteem Fund (Evolution Film) by Ogilvy, Toronto.

Peter Griffin's email probed "What type are you?"

He's just talking 'typefaces', lest you start getting other ideas: "Curious mind wants to know: what typeface do you write in? And why?"

This has now become a fun post, c'mon join the fun!

My former boss, from whom I learnt many things including 'messaging', was a difficult man to please, or differently put, he was a 'simple' man to please. Often, during reviews, he would dismiss long, complexly crafted sentences put together by the team with a "So what are you saying?" We'd often retort with simple, intuitive answers, based on research and work that had gone in. "Then just say that!" he'd sum up. Simple can be very powerful.

Simple then? Actually far from it...my first messaging assignment proved to be tougher than anything I had done until then. It is still very rigorous mentally and even physically :) - This Sunday I spent close to 4 hours+ on round 2 of the probe process, along with the core team of a technology event we are helping craft messaging right now. We are beginning to warm up after a few significant breakthroughs. But, I like it -sometimes bordering towards obsession- looking at messages that brands, corporates are sending out. Do they make sense? How believable are they? Are they any different from what their competition is saying?

Looking at organizations/ brands we often we find that there is a perceptible gap between ‘who they are, what they do’ and who they say ‘they are and what they do’. This usually happens because in any organization or business, there are many things to be said to many stakeholders and it is easy to get lost in the woods.

(What about organizational preparedness – is there a gap between what we say we do and what we ‘really’ do, in terms of our ability to deliver?)

The problem is then compounded when the message travels externally and is often interpreted differently by the stakeholders than intended. Therefore, what they understand, say about/ do about these organizations or brands may be totally different and will therefore not deliver optimal impact on desired opinion, behavior and reputation.

Powerful, differentiated & strategic messaging is, therefore, the perhaps most critical part of the communication process for any organization or brand - leading to strategic planning and outreach.

Over time, I have seen that given extensive involvement of the top management and the senior leadership team, the exercise often allows us a unique view of the differentiated path that the organization has chosen and has the potential to cross over from the realms of communication to an organization's preparedness for meeting stakeholder expectations (that it may fall short upon today), thus delivering long term shift and impact.

We conducted the first edition of a unique ' language + customer service workshop' for one of our clients today and quite enjoyed the experience. I don't really want to miss any opportunity to talk about my experiences as a consumer, and resultant learnings as a marketer. This one's for my favourite consumer technology brand anyway. Back home just a while ago, I found this podcast via Odeo.

If you are obsessed with grammar, you might enjoy this :)

42 Sumptuous Semicolons courtesy 'Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing':

powered by ODEO

Blog\Works Social Media Workshop on Friday, 23 March, New Delhi - Blogs; Wikis; Podcasts; Content Communities; Social Networks...Registered yet!!??

See PDF here:Blogworks Social Media Workshop.pdf

The workshop covers: Concept clarity on web 2.0, social media tools etc.; utility of blogs and other emergent social media tools on/ for corporates and brands; practical walk-through on setting up some of the important tools.

Who would benefit: Leadership and mid-management executives from corporates; public relations & advertising agencies; brand managers; HR professionals looking at blogs and social media for their brands and for clients.

Fee: Rs. 10,000/-, per participant.

Date: 23 March 2007

Time: Registrations begin 9.00 am; Programme begins at 9.30 am sharp (ends 5.30 pm)

Venue: FMCC Campus, Plot No. 8, Balaji Estate, Guru Ravidass Marg, Kalkaji, New Delhi - 110019.

Register by writing to: workshop@blogworks.inor call me at +91 98 106 40163.

This really couldn't wait - saw this at the cinema hall last night and just HAD to post this. Reminded me of days when I was growing up and I would switch on the television 15 mins before Chitrahaar, just to watch the ads, and then move on as the songs began.

The ad has no mention of any Nike product but the connect with the Nike spirit of 'Just do it' is so strong that no product is needed - its about a way of life. With cricket fever reaching a crescendo in the country, the timing is great.

Advertising and entertainment will seamlessly merge, I think- focus would be again creating brand communities rather than highlight 'a product'.

We have been receiving queries for a workshop format that would allow executives in leadership; marketing; communication; HR and others, to help understand social media concepts and tools and evaluate business impact and benefits. Based on feedback, we have formalised a day long workshop that tries to achieve this and covers:

1. Concept clarity on of web 2.0, social media tools etc.
2. Impact Utility of blogs and other emergent social media tools on/ for corporates and brands.
3. How To! Practical walk-through on setting up some of the important tools.

Write in for the proposal at conversations@blogworks.in

Do write in with comments/ inputs/ workshop requests :).

Cheers!

The world has moved on. From just a checklist that needed a communication to be evaluated on whether it covered '5 Ws and the H', the very dynamics of crafting a media release have changed in the last few years. Not just is it pertinent to create specific media messages for specific audience, emergent media has brought about the need for new formats in which we need to deliver media material, say the press release. The importance and value of Hyperlinks, Tags, Social Bookmarking, User Vote on Content, for online content to be found through search and otherwise, has been understood.

Have you seen the new Idea cellular commercial?

The one with the exotic monkey child who steals the sleeping man's phone, hangs it around its neck and then selectively takes it to a basement; light house; jungle etc., all places you'd typically the network to be weak.

The man's obviously in demand, for the phone keeps ringing (great network), but our protagonist, scared/ tired of the constant ringing, travels all the way back to the man's house (man's still asleep), leaves the phone, heaves a sigh of relief. The phone rings again, the man picks up the phone...

Point 1- There is a true lesson here: Only 'man' wants a hand-phone; everyone else thinks it's useless. Agreed.

Point 2 - Does it in anyway resemble the Hutch (puppy follows the boy - our network follows you, wherever you go) ad. Sure the treatment is different, and the execution is indeed very classy, but is the core 'network' idea the same?

Let me know what you think.

Original post is here

As a communication professional, it has been an endeavour to help corporates and brands keep their visual and text communication simple. To convince them that ‘less is more’ :)

I regularly rework my own and my colleagues copy to make it shorter by 20-25%. It can work magic.
I chanced upon this article a couple of months ago. Talks about why and how google keeps its home page simple, and more. Really one of my favourites.

Enjoy.

(What did bring a smile to my face was that the article itself is over 3000 words :) - but worth it, I promise.)