I cringe every time I read the words #FAIL , #boo or thus like on Twitter, from users who might just have given a cursory glance to a tool or barely used a service.

This is someone's brand we are referring to, a brand that's dear to someone; a service in whose creation someone has put a lot of time, effort and money. How easy it is for us, to sit at a distance and boo, setting someone up for failure, without sometimes giving the other party time/ opportunity to make amends on genuine gaps.

I find that on one side social media gives opportunity consumers to transparently share feedback, on the other, our usage of it is often knee-jerk and may I dare say, even juvenile.

Here, however, is a case of genuine customer agony upon discovering at the airport that your ticket for overseas travel; for which you paid in advance; is void. You end up buying another ticket to make it to your destination. This is what happened to my friend, and power blogger, Kiruba. The culprit - Cleartrip.com

I have often said to marketers attending my talks, workshops that how a marketer responds to negative feedback is the key to success with social media. Going on the defensive is not going to help. A mistake has been made - own up; mistakes do happen, and the moment you acknowledge and convey that to the customer, half the battle is already won.

'Resolution' is the only apology acceptable, not a verbal apology that everyone seems to offer. Now go on, top it with something that says 'We care' and you can expect forgiveness, even make friends.

Cleartrip shares how they resolved the complaint in this transparent post - transparency has become their hallmark, besides a clear, purposeful interface on the site.

Cleatrip, is rightly disappointed that not as many people shared the positive resolution, as the ones who contributed to the initial negative burst. Well, you have earned some more trust and customers in the process is all I could say to them. I have been buying regularly from Cleartrip and would not just continue but likely recommend them to more people after this episode.

Thanks Manpreet for sharing the case-study post with me.

UPDATE - 16 June, 2009 at 3.42 pm - Kiruba gives his side of the story on this blog update (2nd part of the story still pending)

UPDATE - 26 June, 2009 at 4.25 pm - Kiruba put up part 2 of his story a couple of days ago. Here it is now.

I have been a client earlier and an agency too. At this moment, interestingly enough, with Blogworks and Pitchh.com we are both an agency and a client respectively.

This week brought some interesting perspectives.

• As an agency you seek committed relationships, as a client you want to pay for performance and that alone. Retainers/ CPM pricing versus Project Fees/ CPL or Cost Per Conversion.
• As we move into the new financial year, it might be useful to take learnings from consumer marketing. For example the creation of shampoo sachets allowed many more users to enter the category, many who previously purchased bottles also found it easier on the pocket to buy them.

  Byte sized packages, with set timelines and measurable returns would be a good way forward to gain business. Of course more effort will go in, but who knows customers might, in fact, end up buying more sachets.

What do you think?

Also, a few months ago, we conducted this qualitative study attempting to capture an overview of the blogs & social media environment in India. The insights were invaluable and we knew then it was time to do a deep dive and a conduct a larger survey amongst marketers & corporates.

So, here we are, along with Exchange4Media Group hoping to put together an insightful study based on 'real inputs' shared by you & your peers and not speculative theories. This will allow the industry to benefit from shared insights & make for educated decisions.

We need your participation:

1. You can take the survey here- open until 24 December 2008 but don't wait until the last day.

All valid participants get a FREE copy of Summary & Key Points from the “Overview of Blog & Social Media Environment in India”, a report prepared by Blogworks – this will be emailed to you. For it to be a valid entry, you must answer all questions.

Once you have completed your entry, do share your feedback on the questionnaire by writing to survey@blogworks.in.There would be mistakes to learn from & things to do better the next time -we'd appreciate you sharing your thoughts.

Media Partners for the initiative: Impact, Pitch and Exchange4Media.com

Many prospects, and clients, we interact with, talk about starting their blog on a free blog site, such as Blogger.com etc.

That's a bad-bad way to start your blog/ social media journey, we tell them. Show the tool the reverence it deserves - don't treat it casually - we tell them. All blogs are not equal, we tell them - what works for a casual, individual blogger, doesn't work for an organization/ brand.

If you still do go ahead with a free blog and then fail to get results you were seeking, don't blame the tool, blame yourself, we tell them.

So, why do we need to move these conversations to our domain? Here are just a few reasons:

1. Our domain is OUR home, it gives us the control on what we want to do; on customization of features, look-feel; on branding.
2. We get access to powerful analytics that tell us much about:
   - Where are users coming from.
   - What is bringing them there.
   - What are they doing on the site.
   - Where are the gaps that need to be bridged.
   - Much, much more.
3. We own the content on the site, no fear of - being deleted, of the site going down because of a ban, of rules changing mid-way.
4. A single place for stakeholders to engage with us, share feedback, find answers –ensures continuity. Though, if we are a brand, then we'd be creating a dozen other touch points too and yet it helps to have one place that's our own and aggregates/ links everything.
5. Since people get an opportunity to reach the brand directly, they can transparently share any grouse/ feedback with the team – chances are that they won’t vent any negative feelings on consumer feedback sites instead – showcases transparency, consumer orientation, saves time and effort sorting issues on third party platforms.
6. MOST IMPORTANTLY – as the Internet gains strategic significance and search becomes the new clipping, and with increasing impact of social media on purchase decisions, it is imperative that we participate in these conversations and build communities.



7. Blogs (loosely used for sake of convenience, but will include tools like wikis, forums, etc. based on need) are the best search engine optimization tool - as most recent, most relevant content gets picked by search engines first.

Don't be hasty in starting a blog, think through the process as I don't tire explaining.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Two weeks into the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway toll plaza crisis, things don’t seem to have changed much and the promised seven-minute journey now seems more a mirage than reality. Commuters are losing 15-45 minutes one way at the gate, but both the National Highways Authority (NHAI) and the operator seem busy counting the booty — more than Rs70 lakh is collected daily as toll fees, said news reports.

I worry that things might turn ugly — this morning, crossing into Gurgaon, I witnessed the usual…poor management, unconcerned staff. I also saw simmering anger with no police back-up — perhaps the making of a different crisis?

Read the full story here.

For me, trouble came in three that day. I was still smiling, as I clicked a picture of the traffic build-up, when my phone rang. It was my father calling to share that he had lost the house keys and was stuck outside. Then my driver, like thousands of others that were to make the same mistake in the coming days, took the wrong leaf - we were to go left for Airport/ Dwarka, he went right and we landed on the highway instead. My smile had turned into a frown by now...

However, nothing could have prepared me for what I witnessed at the toll plaza on the 26th of January. There was a half-mile queue on ALL gates of the much touted, widest in Asia, terminal. This on a national holiday, I thought and shuddered just imagining the Monday peak-time traffic trying to negotiate the bottle-neck point (People have since wasted between 30 minutes to 3 hours, one way, at this point).

As I waited my turn that day, I wondered "what went wrong?"

So, why am I wasting your time sharing this? Well, if this isn't a public relations crisis, what is? And there are learnings but more importantly an opportunity - a CSR opportunity.

However, while Delhi/ NCR population is battling the nightmare live, it is important for the sake of our readers from other geographies that we share some background.

Those familiar with the situation may straight jump to the headings CRISIS/ OPPORTUNITY :).

Background

New Delhi, the Capital City, bursting at seams is growing into the suburbs. Gurgaon, with its attractive location on National Highway No 8, which connects Delhi - Ahmedabad - Mumbai, and (once) cheap agricultural land has become the favoured destination for residents and businesses alike. Integrated townships, malls have changed the landscape of this once sleepy town.

Touted as a Singapore in the making, Gurgaon caters to a significant proportion of multi-national offices (in the NCR) and BPO/ KPO (outsourcing) businesses in the country. Intra-city traffic is choking NH - 8, as teeming millions travel back and forth.

Proposed Solution

A world-class, 8 lane expressway (part of the ambitious golden quadrangle project, connecting the 4 largest metros is proposed). Work begins, but the project, which was scheduled for completion in 2005, sees many extensions and cost over-runs that result in a delay of over 2 years.

Commuters, in absence of alternate routes (MG Road is further narrowed because of the Metro Project and Old Gurgaon - Delhi road only served the purpose only until Gurgaon was still a village and today really serves more as an internal link), spend anywhere between 1-2 hours, each way, to reach their destinations.

Build - Up of the Crisis

Parts of expressway that opened to public over the last couple of years, see multiple casualties - pedestrians and motorists alike - in absence of adequate safety measures.

The promised 'grand-opening of the entire stretch', scheduled for 31st of December 2007 - now 5 years in the making - is FURTHER delayed by a 'couple of weeks'.

Representatives of resident associations (read politicos in the making) mount pressure for immediate opening and claim delays are an attempt by politicos to gain photo-ops. Using PR machinery, they host mock inaugurations and create photo-ops for themselves instead :).

Competing newspapers join the fun, take radically opposing stands, dedicating tonnes of ink to the issue.

23rd of January, 2007 is the day when the entire-stretch is inaugurated:

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

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.

This post is clearly with me wearing my Public Relations hat.

Public Relations has, forever, been a case of classic irony, where instead of being celebrated as a phenomenon that encompasses most aspects of life; instead of being seen as a complex and rigorous science managing relationships with a variety of stakeholders, it has been - in the worst case scenario - been looked down upon as 'spin' or - in the best case scenario - simply seen playing a limited role of garnering 'publicity'. Media relations has perhaps, by virtue of being the most 'visible' interactions of a public relations professional, unfortunately, led to the latter conclusion.

A case of bad reputation, for the keeper of reputation itself.

Traditional media was, until very recently, a key tool for information dissemination, influencing opinion and behavior and therefore an important participant in the public relations process. Cut to today, and a new layer of influencers has been added along - the individual/s. With blogs becoming carrier of opinion and with many now carrying mainstream and business news, a la traditional media, a new task has been added to the typical public relations professionals life - blogger relations. Sounds simple!

Like you disseminate information to journalists, do the same for bloggers. Where is the problem? Well, that is the problem, bloggers are NOT EQUAL TO journalists. Blogs and social media are absolutely new phenomenons themselves, evolving rapidly; bloggers are themselves discovering the role they can/ should be playing; professional understanding of the medium is fairly nascent and is trying to keep pace with the fast evolving environment - simply put, the situation is far from simple.

Writing this blog has put us in a rather unique position where, on on hand we are marketing and public relations practitioners; on the other we have a somewhat popular blog that brands and companies sometimes wish to participate in; and last, but not the least, we are active participants in contributing to the social media environment and know-how. This allows us many perspectives to this situation.

We sometimes get showered with emails from agencies or get a friendly request to feature a client/product on one our of properties, which we politely turn down; sometimes we too end up an status 'upset' mail from a touchy but influential blogger (great learning come our way with these little incidents on what 'not to do) and alternately we have found us discussing all these issues amongst ourselves, with peers & associates in the social media space - complaining, debating or discussing possible best practices.

My friend Toby Bloomberg has written several posts 1, 2, 3, (and more) talking about Blogger Relations, and today I read my friend Rohit Bhargava's post on beta of Ogilvy Blogger Outreach Code of Ethics. These are gems, do read them again and again.

This post from Nikhil and this - via Rohit's blog (there are dozens of others) made me think about writing this post, to seed the need for public relations professionals to 'play right' in the new environment. Hope you too want to chip in towards a healthier reputation for our profession and more rewarding engagement with bloggers.

Here are a few thoughts:

1. Think value addition - Most bloggers are not into writing their blogs as a full-time profession. Many are employed executive or professionals and are writing in their 'free' time. If you want them to find value in you/ your client, do share what they 'need'. Bloggers, unlike mainstream media don't have time/ access to reams of research. Can you add value with research, data, trends? Even full-time bloggers need that. Become a valued partner rather than just someone who spams them with press releases.
2. Think customization - There are news blogs and then there are opinions and insights blogs. Don't confuse the two. Have we customized information for them to find it of use?
3. Think relationships - Read Toby's post 1 again. Relationships mean mutual respect and participation. Influential bloggers, like any of us, may not engage with us when we NEED them. Have we invested into the relationship? Do we really care about reading their blog? Have we ever commented on the blog, not to say how beautiful the blog looks for how magical every word they write is, but to actually take the conversation forward?
4. Think engagement - Is there merit in indulging in public relations that's not about coverage - previews, reviews, interviews, announcements - but about engagement to seek feedback, opinion, product participation and evangelism? It may eventually lead to 'coverage' and chances are that the blogger who sees you genuinely wanting feedback, to change the offering for the better, will respect you and give your his/ her trust. Convince the client! It might just do wonders for their brand.
5. Think relevance & timing - A golden rule that I follow: don't attempt to sell everything to everyone. Is the information you are sharing, relevant to this blog? If not, don't waste the blogger and your own time. Also, bloggers typically don't want to be seen as followers, particularly the influential ones - timing of when you reach out to them could be the crucial differentiator. A new logo, that's been plastered everywhere for 2 weeks, is not of value anymore for an influential marketing blog.
6. Think what's my role- Unlike many journalists, many bloggers are not happy working with agencies, they want to interact with the client directly. They want information first hand. Respect this, introduce and step aside maybe? Might just work.
7. Think maturity - in dealing with bloggers, in our expectations, in our follow-ups, in our comments on their blogs. Respect and credibility are a function of how we conduct ourselves.

These come to my mind right now but this is certainly not the end of this post. Perhaps more from me and definitely from you I hope. Like always, do take the conversation forward.

Cheers.

UPDATE - 9 September 2007, 7.38 am:

1. Think YOUR value- I have always believed that there is significant value addition that public relations provides to the media's own efforts in generating content, and without content media would simply be white sheets/ empty screens. Same will increasingly be true of micro publishing concepts like blogs etc.

   There is an increasing tendency among many immature bloggers to ridicule concepts, executives, entrepreneurs, plans, offerings etc, as idiotic/ idiots, as if... just because they write a blog, they are also uniquely gifted to comment about serious and important matters with very little or no inputs/ understanding whatsoever. To spot the variety is not very difficult - just spend a little time on the sites - DON'T create monsters by chasing them. Understand the value of your inputs.

   So, respect and preparedness for credible bloggers and don't waste time chasing the variety I quote above.

I have been posting some updates on my earlier post.

It has previously happened with mobiles and email - as social networking becomes mainstream, misuse by miscreants and anti-social elements is bound to happen. A very sad incident in Mumbai last week was an early indicator. I pray something like this never repeats itself but it will take responsible conduct from all stakeholders...

Soumya - a Blogworks regular brought up an interesting and relevant question. In brief, he asked..."marketers want customers to share more and more information, so they could use it to there advantage. How does the customer protect herself? How do brands and consumers find balance in this environment?"

My own assessment of the matter was a little different, suggesting that "Users (read youth in particular) seem not 'bothered' at all about sharing information on the net. To the contrary they are taking great delight in doing so (and that worries me about their physical and financial safety). Online media owners take a lot of personal information (though there are promises of data protection and all that but slips-ups are known to happen) but if you look around, that's NOT the information that jeopardizing users. What is really jeopardizing them is open conversations about the tiniest happenings in their lives. Sometimes I wonder why would they want to bare their entire lives, but we are living in an increasingly exhibitionist world and communication tools are enabling that.

Different companies and brands are using the said content in public domain - for research, engagement but brands typically don't stalk. Yes, what is needed is transparent and ethical conduct by brands. They are beginning to understand the value of engagement over quick returns.

Youngsters, many who have adopted the net as their primary means of information and communication aren't sometimes even aware of the impact and consequences. These are social challenges of today and will need tackling through counsel, education and responsible conduct by all stakeholders - particularly the marketers and media owners. Let's have some of the responsible ones roll out campaigns to address these very real issues."

I am not suggesting that my comment had anything to do with it, but almost on cue, this email from BigAdda, where I am registered as a user, popped in a couple of days later.

Great start, but currently going out to existing subscribers.However, I think there is an opportunity for the local social networking sites, many of whom had perhaps found the carpet pulled from under their feet with the huge response to Facebook, to engage target audience with differentiated communication even as they tweak products to match FB etc.- BigAdda has gone for a mega interface and feature makeover recently, bringing in many Facebook like features.

An Outreach campaign, including:

1. Advertising - for those who have the bucks BigAdda; MingleBox :)
2. School & College Outreach
3. Media Outreach
4. Peer and Celebrity Messages - Do's and Don'ts for a safer SN experience

..might win them the crucial trust, in a game that's at the moment not taking them anywhere. I am talking something on the lines of what Seagram's does for responsible drinking.

India is fairly big and many of these players are perhaps hoping to capture the 'not-yet-on-social-networks' traffic. There are a set who are on Orkut; another on Facebook, then there is migration from one to another. But, there is still a large population, in non-metros, smaller towns, or even in metros that owes no loyalty to Orkut or any other platform. "If I could get them to adopt my network first, they and their friends would likely join and stay.", could and should be the logic for many of the local players. The game's just begun, not anywhere close to finish!

The next round might just go to the most 'trusted' social networking site. Who will seize the opportunity (to not just gain subscribers, but maybe also save lives in the process)?

Reputation they say is really fickle, what takes years to build can come under adversity any moment.

Reams have been written, case studies shared in class rooms, preparedness workshops conducted replicating real-life scenarios (how many brands invest into them or want to even believe that a crisis can hit them is another matter all together- it can happen to others but it can't happen to us!!!) This week, however, has been an interesting for students of communication with recall related crises hitting three significant brands.

What will be long-term impact remains to be seen, but it makes for a good study to see them tackle it, in their respective ways.

1. Nokia: Significant in the India context, given it is their 'largest' market. Even though there have been no known instances of a battery actually catching flames, I am surprised as many normal people like us are taken by the frenzy and suddenly have the phone placed to their ear rather gingerly. Media reports suggest people lining up at dealers for replacements (we love new for old don't we?) Was Nokia able to roll out training to it's dealers in time? Was a crisis plan in place? Was public relations leveraged to the full? Did print advertising deliver desired results?

   
   Today, I did call the Nokia Helpline number and they seemed in control 'content and tone'. Were they 2 days ago? Questions! Questions! Questions!

2. Mattel: I saw some paid contextual ad campaigns to suggest someone was thinking damage control online, given the importance of that medium in the US and other global markets. What surprises me though is...it took them that long to discover lead content. US and other markets have supposedly stringent regulations, no?
3. China: Brand China will see impact. Clearly China = cheap = cost effective/ savings, has gone back to China = cheap = low quality (or worse). China has the ability to take strong radical measures to bring about change and enhance quality but lots of work on positioning and perception management ahead.

Lots of learning opportunity here. Case studies being written?

UPDATE: 30 August, 2007

Nokia has started a advertising burst with customers endorsing their handling of the battery replacement crisis. They seem to have come out of the crisis with minimal damage (Nokia says, with an enhanced reputation). I spoke with a few people and they will continue to buy Nokia handsets, they said. What is your feedback on this? Do add your comments.

I think the festive intervention that Onam and Raksha Bandhan brought, may have helped shift focus from batteries to new phone purchases.

Interestingly enough, unless I missed out on them, none of the competition had a covert/ overt take on Nokia's recall (Did their dealers do this for them?). Or may be they were focused on the festive offers...

UPDATE: 5 September, 2007

Nokia:

Fake batteries are a 'genuine' problem - much-much cheaper, most replacements that go into any handset are cheaper, locally made fakes. They carry the brand labels though, damaging the reputation of the real brand. That's what also seems to be happening with Nokia too and they are trying damage control.

In the interim, as expected, Rivals cash in on Nokia blues.

China:

Interesting how China is getting back at America, complaining sub-standard food nourishment supplies.

Introduces stricter regulation as expected.

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

"It's just an easy way to see what words or phrases are showing up on Twitter and how often. For example, 3,800 folks have twittered about being sad and 13,000 people have twittered about being happy. Clearly, Twitter users are happy people. Is that because they drink coffee (14,200) about three times more than tea (4,610)? Who knows..."

Like many others, I too have been thinking about marketing applications of Twitter, but how does one track and measure the going ons? Another very interesting mash-up, Twittervision, of course, pops messages on a map and you can, if you had the time, follow these messages. But how does one get a quick, number/ dashboard view?

I think tweetVOLUME has interesting implications. I tested the following brand names and found these many mentions of:

1. Nokia - 1490


2. Sony Ericsson- 84


3. Motorola -188
4. Mercedes - 138


5. BMW - 243

These numbers are of course dynamic and may have changed by the time you land on the site.
Also, I am wondering, when are these mentions 'from', in terms of timelines. BTW , you can compare up to 5 words at the same time, on a dashboard view. Marketers, particularly addressing youth, may find this an interesting way to monitor buzz.

There are 843 mentions of India. Twitter is yet to catch on here and that's clearly the reason Indian brands hardly find a mention, but hey 'Yoga' is happening @ 781 mentions.

Now if someone could tell me the Tone of Voice: Negative - Neutral - Positive. Greedy, ain't I? :)

Go, check it out.

Read more Twitter stuff, here.

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 are looking for these inputs:

1. Name
2. Location
3. Your profession
4. Blog URL
5. Subjects your blog is focused on
6. Traffic statistics for last 3 months - mention tool/s used; geographical; demographic data that you may have available;number of email subscribers etc.
7. Page Rank
8. Present advertising you feature
9. Advertising regarding any products/ services/ subjects that you would NOT like featured on your blog
10. Anything else you may want to share (about 100 words)

Thanks and looking forward to hear from you.

Please note that this is not:
1. A pay-per-post offer and wouldn't infringe upon your editorial integrity


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

It seems so long ago, but since these had come in a few days ago and a couple of people had requested, here are a few picture memories from the Blogworks Social Media Workshop in New Delhi.

What workshop :)? Details here:

1. Post Event Summary
2. Event Details

Thanks.

Phew! Finally!See all PDFs here!

"Believe me the workshop was really helpful to understand the rising influence of social media in contemporary times and also the technology that is making this happen," writes Tejas, NDTV.com who attended the workshop, "...a great initiative on your part to get the community together!" another senior participant. Grateful :).

(have you seen the new www.ndtv.com yet?)

Updated at 6.47 pm, 27 March 2007

All PPTs (PDF) are up now. Files were heavy and I have had to remove images and content. Have had to remove all PDFs - the page formatting was totally a mess. Hope to crack this by tomorrow. Meanwhile, mail me your requests and I will send you the files by email till I figure out a way here.

First updated at 1.12 am, 26 March 2007

I just lost 45 minutes worth of effort trying to upload the presentations - there was an error - going to sleep now as we leave for Jaipur tomorrow morning. Updates will now have to wait until Tuesday. Apologies all.

BTW - I was able to attend the initial part of Kiruba's podcasting workshop today. I think he totally rocks and is among the most engaging speakers I have met. Shame I couldn't stay the entire duration. Would have, had it been anything other than the monthly reiki follow-up meeting. Another day I guess...

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 :)

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.

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!

It has been a busy start to the year and even as the 'Cool List of 2006' post remains pending still, I have been thinking about what possible trends/ consolidation to expect online/ on the Indian blogosphere this year:

1. Year before last a client of mine was disapproving of my team's effort to get her brand visibility online. She thought it was 'easy' to get featured online and therefore didn’t count for much. I was quite amused by the reaction, as my own online experience had assured me of the medium’s power - my online writings have always been seen by more people; commented upon by more people; they stay around longer; can be linked; emailed... I can carry on. Coupled with the 'ease' of web 2.0, where I can do anything myself; put up anything on You Tube or Digg the power multiples, making the world truly flat. You are as good, as you really are! I think the online medium has arrived and will gain ground rapidly
2. When we launched BlogWorks.in last week with the Blog the Talk series, IMPACT weekly agreed to carry the content in a 2 part series. We were able to reach an entirely different community of readers through the exercise and the talk was read by a much larger audience, in addition to those who were already online . I like this marriage of mainstream with blogs. As blogs produce more and more compelling content, the trend is going to gain ground
3. I chanced upon a celebrity CEO's blog the other day. Very newbie, but very promising. I could see myself writing a blog a few months ago, struggling with template back-ends etc. but soon that became a thing of the past and I could actually concentrate on the writing part. I can see more and more experts and thought leaders joining the blogosphere and as that happens, credibility of blogs is going to go up too

Edition 1 discusses the Impact of blogging and social media on Indian business and marketing. It was remarkable that each participant, from the heavy-weight (figuratively speaking) panel, confirmed within an ‘Aye’, within hours of my writing to them. Thanks all. The entire discussion happened over an internet messenger – apt, wouldn’t you agree? – both, the message and the method. Our panelists -in no order of preference! :) -

1. Toby Bloomberg: "A real live blogger", "Business blog evangelist" that's what people have called Toby. Toby is president of a strategic and social media consultancy based in the U.S. She has been a real live blogger since the spring of 2004 when she launched Diva Marketing Blog. As one of the most recognised consultants in this space, Toby's passion now is helping organizations navigate the blogosphere and developing social media/blog strategies that support their business goals. Toby is based out of Atlanta, USA
2. Govindraj Ethiraj: Journalist-writer, a keen watcher of the social media and technology space, Govind is the New Media Editor for Business-Standard. A keen blogger, he writes a popular blog at Dateline Bombay. Govind is based out of Mumbai, INDIA
3. Anurag Batra: A dear friend, Anurag is the Editor in Chief & Managing Director of the exchange4media Group - a special interest publishing company which publishes five titles including three titles in advertising, marketing and media domain- Exchange4Media.com , PITCH , Impact and two consumer titles Franchise Plus and Realty Plus . Anurag is based out of New Delhi, INDIA
4. Yours truly moderated the discussion. I too am based out of New Delhi, INDIA.

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.

Indian marketers are beginning to acknowledge the fact that blogs are here to stay and are trying to explore how they can be used for marketing. The fact that US, and some of the other markets, have been exploring this domain ahead of us, offers learning...

Whilst unethical players bring dis-repute to any industry, the very premise on which Conversational Marketing is based, gets challenged if ethics and transperency are compromised - the impact is prompt and usually severe.

To help marketers & advisors know what would be the right thing to do as also to protect the consumers rights, WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) has released a discussion draft for public comment' of its 'WOMMA Ethical Blogger Contact Guidelines - prompting us to remember that: Consumers come first, honesty isn't optional, and deception is always exposed.

1. I will always be truthful and will never knowingly relay false information. I will never ask someone else to deceive bloggers for me.
2. I will fully disclose who I am and who I work for (my identity and affiliations) from the very first encounter when communicating with bloggers or commenting on blogs.
3. I will never take action contrary to the boundaries set by bloggers. I will respect all community guidelines regarding posting messages and comments.
4. I will never ask bloggers to lie for me.
5. I will use extreme care when communicating with minors or blogs intended to be read by minors.
6. I will not manipulate advertising or affiliate programs to impact blogger income.
7. I will not use automated systems for posting comments or distributing information.
8. I understand that compensating bloggers may give the appearance of a conflict of interest, and I will therefore fully disclose any and all compensation or incentives.
9. I understand that if I send bloggers products for review, they are not obligated to comment on them. Bloggers can return products at their own discretion.
10. If bloggers write about products I send them, I will proactively ask them to disclose the products’ source.

Knowing what is the customer/ user saying about you is very powerful input for a marketer to improve user experience, and that tracking blogs allows us to do that quite easily is something that I have believed for long.

This episode shows how easy it is, and why more companies should be doing so:

I wrote this post on my blog sometime ago, to which someone added a comment, saying...

"Why don’t you consider writing about some of the new “India 2.0” sites that are creating a little buzz as well?Eg: www.ilaaka.com and www.onyomo.com "

(Update: Nikhil informs me that our friend who posted the above comment has been spamming everyone with this message :) ).

I did that and wrote ...

"...Onyomo is a nice concept too and the sms option is great but success depends on how comprehensive is the service - for eg. I searched for Seeds and plants - got none. Searched for riding school and got an eatery. But, that will get sorted out over a period of time I think."

A couple of days ago, someone who works with Onyomo, googled his company name and found my comment.

Addressing the points raised by me, he left a note

"Hi Rajesh,

We at Onyomo have been working hard to build a useful and innovative service. Even though the things you searched for are not yet covered by our search engine, sooner or later our search will cover these categories. We're always on the lookout for suggestions regarding the data that people may want to search...

... However, as you noted correctly, these problems will get sorted out sooner or later.We've also launched an SMS Search service in Delhi/NCR and Bangalore where you can search from you mobile phones on the move.

I sincerely hope that you'll like our service..."

I was mighty impressed with the proactiveness shown by the team and visited the site again, posted another comment on my blog, in which I also asked the gentleman, were he to visit my blog again (wanted to see if he did), to drop me a line for a few suggestions that I had.

This morning, he had obviously googled 'Onyomo' again, visited this blog soon afterwards to read my newest comment and promptly dropped me a line.

I have just replied back to him. I do not know how useful my suggestion would be but I am richer for the experience.

My 'blogs for business and public relations' journey started about a year and half ago and soon thereafter I penned this article (first published for our internal newsletter at Genesis Burson-Marsteller where I was employed until recently). So much has already changed for the Indian blogosphere that many things that the article mentions sound dated. Each day has been new learning.

Anyway, I was invited to speak at a seminar yesterday on 'Blogs for Marketing'. It was great fun to work on this presentation. As luck would have it I was gifted a copy of Naked Conversations (Robert Scoble/ Shel Israel) by a friend and that was very useful too.

Slideshow:

Do write me your feedback so I could imbibe that into my future sessions. I am not able to share the Blog/Works proprietary methodology as I hope to retain that as a differentiator.

Update: Am replacing the presentation and only a sampler is up now. Write to me if you are interested in the entire presentation.

The current issue of Impact-the marketing, advertising & media weekly features a piece by me titled - In the News!- under their Insight/ My View section. Here is the text. Do leave your comments if this was useful.