In August 2010 Facebook started a new service called ‘Facebook Places’. Fueled by the technology of location based services, and the dynamism of the social experience on Facebook, the service allows a user to perform the typical geosocial activities at a physical location, namely checking in, checking in with other people, tagging them (as done with photos), finding out others in the place, etc. Firstly, available on iPhone and then on Blackberry and Android phones, the service was launched in the U.S and then made accessible for some European nations too. In India however, the service has not yet been launched officially. As per some tech experts, few people could open the service page with their smartphones but only when the server was in the U.S.
The next initiative by Facebook transformed the social experience at offline locations into a business opportunity. In November 2010, Facebook announced ‘Deals’.
In a very simple 3 step process, the user can look for near-by places on Facebook with his/ her smartphone, check-in at one of the physical locations using the yellow icon (notifying deals available) of Facebook Places, and then click on the deal icon and redeem the offer. The screen shows a message that the user has to show the cashier, and instantly it gets updated in the user’s news feed.
As of now, Facebook has annouced four types of deals – ‘Individual Deals’ for discounts, free samples or other rewards to new or existing customers, ‘Friend Deals’, where a group of people can claim something together, ‘Loyalty Deals’ for the existing customers with a certain number of check-ins and ‘Charity Deals’, which allow user to donate for a cause.
A very simple yet powerful integration of social commerce with location based services. So, before Places and Deals are launched specifically for India, let’s have a peek at how they can help generating foot-falls and make an impact in the retail marketspace.
Deals with Loyalty
This service can be utilized in creating brand loyalty for the any business with retail presence. The outlets of a brand marked on Facebook (‘child places’, as Facebook calls them) and have the contest running can witness the conversations happening in and around them. The best part being, these conversations can lead to increase in visitors because of the nature of deals (loyalty based, or group discounts).
Deals with virality
It is not just about the deals in an offline location that ends with the customer getting a special discount. Every time a user avails an offer it gets posted to his/her Facebook page. And more essentially, the status updates can be posted by the brand claiming for a deal or announcing it with the link. Also the brand owner can create specific Facebook ads for the deals only.
Deals with engagement
The deals can also support content creation for the fan page of the brand. People can share the experiences of shopping, eating at a restaurant and other public activities related to the location and the offer. So, in general this can enhance the engagement on the fan page and seed lots of conversations around the offers and the brand.
Lots of discussion in the social business community have started as Facebook is now supposedly following the footsteps of the well recognised geo-social services like Foursquare or Gowalla. Inspite of all negative comments on ‘Places’, what gives it a significant importance is that it’s a Facebook initiative. So how can businesses ignore the opportunity to generate sales using the most populous social utility? Especially, when it involves offline actions now.
In August 2010 Facebook started a new service called ‘Facebook Places’. Fueled by the technology of location based services, and the dynamism of the social experience on Facebook, the service allows a user to perform the typical geosocial activities at a physical location, namely checking in, checking in with other people, tagging them (as done with photos), finding out others in the place, etc. Firstly, available on iPhone and then on Blackberry and Android phones, the service was launched in the U.S and then made accessible for some European nations too. In India however, the service has not yet been launched officially. As per some tech experts, few people could open the service page with their smartphones but only when the server was in the U.S.
The next initiative by Facebook transformed the social experience at offline locations into a business opportunity. In November 2010, Facebook announced ‘Deals’.
In a very simple 3 step process, the user can look for near-by places on Facebook with his/ her smartphone, check-in at one of the physical locations using the yellow icon (notifying deals available) of Facebook Places, and then click on the deal icon and redeem the offer. The screen shows a message that the user has to show the cashier, and instantly it gets updated in the user’s news feed.
As of now, Facebook has annouced four types of deals – ‘Individual Deals’ for discounts, free samples or other rewards to new or existing customers, ‘Friend Deals’, where a group of people can claim something together, ‘Loyalty Deals’ for the existing customers with a certain number of check-ins and ‘Charity Deals’, which allow user to donate for a cause.
A very simple yet powerful integration of social commerce with location based services. So, before Places and Deals are launched specifically for India, let’s have a peek at how they can help generating foot-falls and make an impact in the retail marketspace.
Deals with Loyalty
This service can be utilized in creating brand loyalty for the any business with retail presence. The outlets of a brand marked on Facebook (‘child places’, as Facebook calls them) and have the contest running can witness the conversations happening in and around them. The best part being, these conversations can lead to increase in visitors because of the nature of deals (loyalty based, or group discounts).
Deals with virality
It is not just about the deals in an offline location that ends with the customer getting a special discount. Every time a user avails an offer it gets posted to his/her Facebook page. And more essentially, the status updates can be posted by the brand claiming for a deal or announcing it with the link. Also the brand owner can create specific Facebook ads for the deals only.
Deals with engagement
The deals can also support content creation for the fan page of the brand. People can share the experiences of shopping, eating at a restaurant and other public activities related to the location and the offer. So, in general this can enhance the engagement on the fan page and seed lots of conversations around the offers and the brand.
Lots of discussion in the social business community have started as Facebook is now supposedly following the footsteps of the well recognised geo-social services like Foursquare or Gowalla. Inspite of all negative comments on ‘Places’, what gives it a significant importance is that it’s a Facebook initiative. So how can businesses ignore the opportunity to generate sales using the most populous social utility? Especially, when it involves offline actions now.
With the emergence of social networks, ‘multitasking’ is no more a choice but a necessity. We, at Blogworks, often discuss how multitasking can reduce the concentration level and become a reason for low productivity, if not kept track of. Yes, there are reasons enough to get lost in the world of Internet.
The key to networking today is ‘accessibility’, ‘building a personal connect’ and a ‘quick response time’. A recent conversation with a friend made me realise how email has been changing, slow and steady. I would like to think that it is ‘social media’ which has led to the evolution of an otherwise stagnant inbox. Would you leave your email account if you can network, post updates, see videos from there itself?
The ‘inbox’ is increasingly becoming a ‘Social Network’, where you can interact, check out videos, make real time conversations, comments, add friends, schedule meetings and so on. Be it Gmail, Yahoo Mail or Hotmail, the platforms are innovating, experimenting and implementing features which makes the email not only interactive but also more accessible. Google Voice is one such example. With a Google Voice account, any user can dial in without even knowing the number of the person, from web as well as from a handset. Gmail’s move towards priority inbox, changes in Google Docs, I believe are chapters of the same book.
More powerful the ‘inbox’ becomes, more power would be transferred to an email id. Businesses would thrive on them and consumers would strive hard to protect them.
Features to look forward to
This also leads me to believe that email marketing would see a fresh breath of air soon. The new ‘inbox’ would also impact B2B and the way companies communicate, both internally and externally.
However, I do see a flip side to it as well. It is usual to find social networks like Facebook, Twitter banned at work places. Would companies ever open up to the use of such evolved email platforms?
Can email ids become the next currency?
Working in the kitchen last week, I could hear the plotting and scheming underway among the rival
factions of Pandavas and Kauravas as Dad watched completely riveted by the epic Mahabharata (he has the DVD collection on Moser Baer).
In this episode, Krishna was convincing the Pandavas by his inimitable logic how they could defeat the invincible Kauravas chief commander Dronacharya by leading him to believe that his son Ashwatthama has been slain in the war.
While this like many other points in the epic leaves one wondering on the insidious machination employed in the war, it set me thinking in a different direction in context of what we witness in the daily corporate warfare.Without any doubt, Krishna proved to be the most potent weapon for the Pandavas. How was the Pandavas approach to Krishna different from their cousins Kauravas? How is it similar to the divergent approaches followed by marketers of today?
When Kauravas reached out to Krishna for his support in the war, they were completely focused on the great ‘tools’ that he held in his armour and therefore when he offered the choice between his army and himself (for moral support and no use of arms), the Kauravas lapped up the choice of using his army. On the other hand, the Pandavas, could see the value of Krishna beyond the tools in the realm of ‘strategy’. Their choice of Krishna as a strategist help them in good stead through the war, as his experience, market intelligence and knack of deploying the choicest tools at the points proved to be the ultimate differentiator.
I could see the parallels between this choice and the choices that commanders of today seem to make. The shimmer of the new tools growing by dozen everyday sometimes take away the focus from deeper questions on what will they do for us, why do we need them, should we deploy them because they are so cool or because they would actually solve a business problem. As warriors flaunt the newest tools in their armour, others feel pressurised to add these and more.
Am I being imaginative in linking these two scenarios? Interestingly the word strategy itself derives from a Greek word which roughly translates as “General”.
Should it be about Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare or about how these social technologies can be leveraged for solving the business challenges? Is the gap in our myopic implementation of these technologies (gathering fans versus gathering fan insights) or does the myopia emanate from not having a clear strategic view on the matter?
Have you found your Krishna? More importantly, are you even looking for him?
Would love to know what you think.
Image Source: Dolls of India
Susan Boyle, one of the contestants of the British reality show “Britain’s Got Talent”, gave a dramatic performance on stage mesmerizing the audience and judges with her marvelous voice. Immediately after the performance, her viral video circulated the internet and got a whooping 186 million views online in less than a month as per Visible Measures and also made it to the top five ’100 Million Views Club’. Interestingly, Susan’s performance has landed her in fifth most viewed slot along with Mariah Carey’s music video ‘Touch my body’. Wow! The video is worth watching.
Brands all over the world have been using viral videos to promote their products for some years now. Take for instance our home grown viral videos, which was first initiated by companies like MakeMyTrip, Desimartini, Wrigley’s Orbit and many more. These videos were a rage and in fact are quite popular in the digital space even today.
However, it is only in the past couple of years with the advent and popularity of social media networks like Facebook, Orkut, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, and the likes that viral videos are having a spiralling effect. Take the much talked about Vodafone ZooZoo ads for instance, the ads were created for consumption off the TV screens but the impact of the videos online has been phenomenon – fans of Zoozoo are flocking on social networks just to view the Zoozoo characters.
However, at the same time all this sounds easy to do but in reality you simply just can’t expect to post your video and have them go viral on their own, even if you think you have the best videos ever. These days, achieving the ‘viral effect’ takes serious creativity, hard work and some luck.
If you haven’t heard of Divesh Mishra, here is his story. Divesh is a taxi driver based out Varnasi, he has uploaded a video of himself on YouTube talking about his taxi service. The video is simple, it gives out all the information that one would require along with contact details. The video has over 25,000 views in about 18 months, not much for it to reach the viral video charts but surely enough for a man located in a town in India trying to reach out to a global audience via a free online tool.
A really viral video making the rounds of the digital space is ‘Jone’s Good Ass BBQ and foot massage’, a root taken by an entrepreneur in the times of recession.
However, one wrong move, and the spiralling effect can cause severe damage. Take for instance the Domino pizza video on YouTube, the video was caught by viewers so fast, that before Dominoes could even realise the severity of the situation, the video was all over the internet, making it one of the most viewed videos in the online space at the time, till it was finally pulled down by Dominos. The impact of the video – over one million disgusted viewers and a huge blow to the image of the brand. However, brand Dominoes was on top of the situation within 48 hours. Interestingly, Domino’s President, Patrick Doyle responded to the situation not by issuing a typical press release but via a YouTube video.
There is enough content online that will list down ways to get 50000 viewers, how to maximise the viral effect, what to do when a viral video goes wrong, managing crisis through viral videos and so on and so forth. Undoubtedly, the best tool would be not to repeat the same mistakes made by others and learn-as-you-go.
Tiger Wood’s PGA Tour is taking a step further and is hosting a Viral Video Challenge where the top five winners will be posted on the site for public voting. The effect of such a viral video could be phenomenon. Will keep you updated.
So what’s you viral idea?
Many a big brands are re-incarnating this season. But the top grosser in terms of eye-balls and adoration are Vodafone’s semi-alien, semi-ghostly & cartoon-like white bodied creatures called the Zoozoos.
While they were launched to co-ordinate with the second season of IPL and push the Value Added Services (VAS) offered by Vodafone, the happiest news is that with Zoozoo, Vodafone has finally found the antidote to the Hutch pug.
The egg-head, as its being lovingly called in many circles, are not even animated characters. Instead, it’s humans wearing specialized body suits, shot in creatively adjusted environs. The simplicity of the icon is actually what gave it the edge. With 10 creatives already on air, and 15 more en-route, the team had obviously expected this as well.
The most interesting bit, however, is that the name Zoozoo isn’t even mentioned in any of the ads/print campaigns. The popularity of the phenomenon is a result instead, of their attempts on the digital media. See, for instance:
That’s more than sufficient buzz. However, a lot of conversations are happening on these fora. What people like – or don’t like – from how they feel it reflects on the brand, how it compares to the earlier ads and what they think of the transformation, to even complaints in the VAS offered by Vodafone.
Not just are fans engaging, they are even giving suggestions on Zoozoo merchandise, and what all that should be! Not just the egg-head, the customers are trying to interact with Vodafone as well. Hope someone’s listening in to that.
A mix of simplicity, stupidity and hence, the charm, in both the figure and the nomenclature is what’s driving the fan-wave for now. That the Zoozoo, like a star-campaigner, may just overshadow the brand, or come to define it in inextricable ways, much like the pug, remains to be seen; but for now, it’s generating oodles of revelry.
Do share your Zoozoo thoughts with us
According to the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service, the number of people who use the internet (15 years and above from home and work computers) has crossed the 1 billion mark in December 2008.
Key findings of the comScore study showed:
A frantic call from a friend seeking advice on credible blogs/ forums/ community sites where one could source an insider’s view of a future employer led to this post. She was recently offered a plum job in a leading technology company based out of Bangalore. Though the company in question boasts of being amongst the top 10 tech companies in the world, a shadow of doubt has remained over its Human Resource policies- scope for career development, work culture, remuneration, etc. Window dressing attempts by HR further fueled suspicion. She wanted the ‘real picture’ and in this time and era, that’s never too difficult to get.
This is not a case in isolation. The environment today is radically different from what it was, even a year ago. Engagement tactics between employers, employees, customers, investors and dealers have undergone an overhaul. Strict hierarchies, top to down communication, chains of command are passé and have made way for a more open and transparent work culture. Business functions like management, marketing, customer care, HR and Internal communication are heavily interlinked, taking away the silos of before.
The role of Human Resources and Internal communications in this viral environment has undergone a complete overhaul. Business challenges have changed and so have the dynamics of employee retention and engagement. HR is struggling hard to be seen separate from the voice of the boardroom and adopting a culture, more in sync with people. Adoption of Web2.0 tools by existing and prospective employees is on the rise and managers would do well to heed to the trend.
These sites indicate the clear demand for third party endorsements, thought to be unbiased and closer to the truth, when making his career choices. People are looking for real stories and are using the Internet to get exactly what they want.
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A couple of times now, my Google Talk status has said ‘link love?’. All my contacts have at least once pinged me to know whom am I linking up with
With equal jest I punch vague answers that blur all possibilities of any further topical discussion. But I smile to myself. For I have just seen the first signs of – what a lot of us are very skeptical about- a Community!
I could build a case for virtual communities and cite several examples even from our very own Orkut. But I’d rather share a live instance that may help validate.
We were recently approached by our friends who run Radio Schizoid, an India based Internet music station that plays trance, for a possible assignment.
Just as an experiment one morning, we linked Schizoid to our respective Google talk status. Consequently, even my Orkut profile was happily advocating- ‘Trance @ Radio Schizoid’. Add to that my love for psychedelic art- my profile could have well been of someone from Goa?. In a couple of days I get this curiously casual email from Anirudh (no-one I knew then) who called himself a ‘trance addict’. At first I junked the email as yet another random friend request, but I did make a note of the trance bit and checked his profile when next on Orkut.
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Word-of-Mouth Marketing is fascinating, as it is intriguing, and Namita debuts on this blog with a piece on trends that we are witnessing. Consumers beget consumers, she says! Interesting, I think – what do you say? Do join the conversation.
Are the days of celebrity endorsers counted? In the age of reference, it is a peer’s word that seems to matter – the individual and his opinion seem to count for more. There is probably no greater endorsement for Nike than the feet that wear it? and in that respect the consumer has also become the marketer.
The Internet too has done its job in connecting people. Platforms such as blogs, wikis, social communities and forums have provided the Individual opportunities to amplify his voice and reach a large audience.
On the other hand, the marketer continues to face multiple challenges – there is the question of finding the customer in a scattered environment; having found him, retain his attention and critically… stay relevant. If the marketer is able to establish the same level of trust that the user enjoys with his peer group, then that’s a battle won.
Engaging the audience, build presence in forums and communities, act upon feedback are perhaps acts that will add long term value to brands. In essence, nurturing relevant relationships may hold the key to crafting a niche for the brand in this networked era.
Values of transparency, participation and collaboration will improve the overall brand experience. Consumers will naturally be inclined to evangelise the brand – sharing experiences, feedback, posting comments and reviews etc.
Early adopters of this trend have made smooth advances, while many others are just beginning to shake the dust off the shelves.
For example Bzz Agent, specialises in word-of-mouth marketing programs. Based on the premise that consumers with to be heard and can be the most important links for product promotion, the firm has built a substantial database of consumers, tagged as ‘BzzAgents’.
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