PERSPECTIVES ON RESEARCH,MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Aspiration vs Perception

2011-12-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

All consumer products ultimate connect with the consumer is based on whether their offering meets the aspiration of the target audience. Its no secret that every human has some unfulfilled aspiration. It could be about tangible products like cars, house or intangibles such as recognition, reward, power etc. Marketing delves deeper and says that the 'tangibles' are a form of expression of the consumer about their emotional needs. For example, conventional marketing speaks about owning a house would give a sense of security, cars would make you feel 'arrrived', good brands would make a statement about you-so on and so forth. Obviously, every consumer brand fills this emotional gap that is unmet in the consumer's mind and says, well this is THE brand that can make you feel confident, wanted, popular etc. There are numerous examples of brands creating successful campaigns based on this concept.

The point in question is whether the consumer aspires for something to fulfil his want or whether he 'feels' that his want would be fulfilled based on his perception about how people think!
For example, he may want a car not because he has an aspiration for it but because 'he feels' that people would relate to him as successful. Or he may not buy a particular brand of laptop because 'he feels' others may think about him being outdated. This also raises whether you and me buy because ' I want to' or whether ' I don't want to' ( being thought of as uncool, out-of-sync etc.) The driving emotions in both cases also differ. The case for aspiration is driven by a positive one and the latter is a negative emotion in this case. Needless, to mention, which emotion dominates our life more is everyone's guess.

However, all this is built on our own perceptions about how we feel people will react, think and judge. We are concerned with trying to shield ourselves from all this and well, thats where we find brands as the best protectors. And this is an ongoing process. As I feel, we are humans and being aspirational is no crime. For me travelling, seeing new places gives me a high!

I think if we are aspirational in the true sense, we would choose brands that make good sense- emotionally as well as rationally. Also, while aspiration is more absolute and is not necessarily based on other people's reactions, perception is all about 'others'.

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Power of scent in marketing

2011-03-17T21:38:00.000-07:00

While I was out recently in a super market, I walked past the counter for fruits and was really struck by the strong smell of oranges coming from the shelves. Neither did it divert my attention to it but also compelled me to buy a kilo.

It reminded me about how powerful our senses are in marketing. Without the use of smell, I wouldn’t have given the oranges a second glance, but of course with a great orangey smell that stopped me in my tracks and influenced by behaviour. Most of the communication is directed for the eyes as it is said that 80% of our decisions are influenced by what we see. Therefore, marketers often scramble for appealing to the eyes, through printed materials, TV ads etc. when using smell can really add to the effectiveness of marketing.

Smell is one of the most powerful senses that a human has. Recall, memories, emotions, feelings, and associations are quite easily accessed via sense of smell than through any other channel.

In humans, there are four genes for vision, whereas there are 1,000 allocated to scent, which means we have the ability to differentiate more than 10,000 odours. According to the Sense of Smell Institute, 75 percent of all emotions we generate are due to what we smell. Marketers are well aware of this and for years they have used the power of scent as an important marketing tool.

The power of smell is so powerful that it influences our decision whether to buy a product or not, whether to visit a particular restaurant or not and also to an extent it impact our recommendation for a particular product or service.

The most prominent products that use this power are perfumes and deodorants. Walk into any large super store or a mall and you would find the counters of all perfume brands right at the entrance. All that the sales staff is asking you to do is have a “free trial”. They know it so well that there are every chances of conversion for those who go for this freebie. In fact, that’s the best possible way to create a sale in this industry. However scent marketing is not only restricted to perfumes and deos. I remember walking down a street near a tube station in London and there was a bakery house right near the exit. Now the aromas of its freshly made bread and pastries used to spread right through its strategically placed window. Surely, that drove footfalls inside this bakery and eventually sales. Aroma branding is not just restricted to spreading inviting scents but also used to create a brand experience that would result in positive associations and aid brand recall. Also called olfactory branding, it is something that remains with the consumer in his memory and is better suited than reaching for the “eyeballs” which are difficult to reach in a crowded media bazaar.

As a strategy, cafes are very good examples and a coffee store must make sure that the customer who walks in is greeted by the smell of fresh beans. In fact, there would be a difference in the smell of beans when you compare one coffee shop to another. When you think of launching a new product in a market place, for example a soap, a marketer looks into which “positioning” is unoccupied in the minds of the consumer and thus fill it with his unique offer. Smell becomes an important factor here too. Look at all soap brands and all of them carry a distinct “position” in terms of their fragrance.

Smell can also be used to whet your appetite in restaurants and therefore, you have these open kitchens where food is cooked in an open place which obviously is meant to stimulate your urge for eating. While natural fragrance cannot be produced always, artificial fragrance is also used and the ones that are commonly used are those of fresh bread and bakery products.

Smell as a branding tool is not new but is gaining prominence mainly because of the media clutter and it being an important element in creating a “brand experience”. Every brand is striving to create its signature aroma which will not only help in creating an association for the brand but help in recall and influence buying decisions.

Effective online marketing

2011-03-16T02:05:00.000-07:00

Companies are using the web for a spectrum of marketing activities, from brand building, after sales service to lead generation. The most popular tools that are used are e-mail, website, display ads and now recently, social networks. I would like to focus on some basics of how online marketing can be made effective :

Website: Your website is like a 24X7 store/office where people can visit, look at your products, understand your company and decide whether they want to deal with you or not. For new visitors, a website gives an idea about the offerings and how much they could trust the same. For existing customers, they could find new updates on your company. It is important that the website be made user friendly so that people can easily get the information they seek in a proper sequence. I have seen websites where you have to spend a lot of time search basic information like, “contact us”. It may be mentioned in a place where the customer may have to really do some hard work to locate it. A company spends so many resources in making the perfect office but if your potential customer has a poor online experience, is that affordable? Having a proper content is another important aspect that is often overlooked. In fact, the more (relevant) content you can upload, the better it is. Remember, the website is viewed by the visitor at a time convenient to him. As a result, he may be really interested in knowing more about the company and thats where having a good content in place works to your advantage.

E mail: Perhaps the most undermined and abused form of online marketing is email. It’s a no brainer when it comes to telling someone to carry out an e-mail marketing campaign. However,the most common mistake that is done is sending bulk emails. There cannot be any result expected from such campaigns mainly because the chances of your email landing in spam is quite high and even if they don’t, receivers tend to ignore bulk mails. I have also noticed that many mail drafts are also done in a very casual manner. One does need to adopt some basic business letter writing skills to draft a professional email. It should carry an attractive subject line, the matter should contain the purpose for the mail, brief introduction about the company and products and the expected reply from the prospect. At the end of the mail, it does not require a great deal of any effort to have a signature that contains your name, website address, office address and contact numbers. If you are sending attachment with the mail, make sure it is properly made in terms of content and design. If its a brochure one can either get it a done from a professional designer or else can do it by himself by using images, word design templates etc. It is always better that the e-brochure is send in a pdf format.
Social media: Names like Facebook, Linkedin, Blogs are commonly known but their potential for business or marketing is not so well known. Many businesses, small and big have leveraged the power of the social media for revenue generation or brand building. Dell is an excellent example of the power of social media in business. Starting a profile on a facebook or linkedin is very easy and if one follows basic instructions, you can have a profile ready in no time. If you notice, Facebook has recently introduced a feature that asks you about your work information. Needless to say, Facebook knows that many people would like to share details about their work and others would like to know. Linkedin is a professional social network and its USP is that it is meant for everything that is work related including jobs. Social networks are a revolutionary concept because you can network with any body from any part of the world which without this concept would have been difficult. If you are opening a profile on Linkedin, make sure you write the content that gives your description in the most effective manner rather than writing too much or irrelevant stuff. Many times, information that could be most impactful can be missed out. For starters, you could possibly get feedback from your friends on how they liked the introduction etc mentioned on your profile. Get as many testimonials as possible, again it is a simple tool but very effective. If you are looking for conversions in business, you must get this one right.

Blogs are another effective tools in social media, according to me. If one doesn’t have a website, he can use a blog which if done well, can be as effective as a website and it is free. The best aspect of a blog is that you can upload unlimited content, can attach photos or videos with every posting. One cannot possibly mention on a website that is not relevant to the company or product because the mindset that a visitor has is to know about the company or its products. Whereas, on a blog, you can write about the industry, tips on how to use, random thoughts etc. Of course, it always helps to have a defined strategy in place so that all that doesn’t go directionless.

I think these are the most important tools that one needs to take advantage of on the web. One may already be doing it, but whether they are creating the desired impact is important to know.

How excellence in service can impact organisations

2011-02-22T00:18:00.000-08:00

Service is an integrated aspect in almost all industries particularly those in the service industry like retail,hotels,hospitals,showrooms, franchise outlets, travel etc. Other "non service" industries also have a service component since every business has a customer and one needs to service him. In most businesses, particularly medium scale service oriented, most of the time the owner/manager gets absorbed into daily running of these businesses like finances, purchase, administration, HR related tasks and marketing mainly advertising. As a result, he cannot devote much of his time to look into whether the customer service aspect is looked into or not. Whether the frontline sales person servicing customers and whether he is doing it the right way is not known. The owner/manager can step in at times but at the end of the day he has time only to look at the bottom lines and to a certain extent look into issues that the sales person has faced. In fact, the only time that he gives service a serious thought to the "service aspect" is when something goes wrong. But post-mortem analysis in business is no use.

Many fail to realise that the frontline staff who handles the customer is actually the face of the organisation. The amount of money spent on decorating the interiors, installing hi tech gadgets, having an impressive product line etc. have no value if there is no proper service, if the person doesn't know how to talk and conduct himself. The fault doesn't lie with the sales/customer service guy because like all of us, he is learnt to approach in a particular way, he makes mistakes like a normal human being. However, it is important that he be trained periodically in ways to satisfy a customer so that he knows different ways to do so, introspect where he can improve and provide an experience that wows the customer.

Important aspects on which the training must happen are :understanding quality service, key skills for customer service, dealing with customers, conducting himself resolving a breakdown and how to deal with it.

The results that a training of this nature would generate would be in the form of improved customer service, retention of staff,impact on customer relationship, better relationship between staff and management, ability to understand customer better, improved customer experience and a positive word of mouth. Of course, the final outcome that interests all business-sales would be a natural product.

21 Social Media Predictions and Trends for 2011 | ClickZ

2011-01-30T23:46:00.000-08:00

21 Social Media Predictions and Trends for 2011 | ClickZ

Social media and sociological impact on communities

2010-11-10T23:26:00.000-08:00

Social media has clearly shown how the communities are being impacted and a shift thats visible. Traditionally, we saw communities built on the basis of region,language, religion and caste to name a few. Later, developmental factors/technologies such as education, transportation facilities, telephone helped build new communities and maintain them better. For instance, either of these factors would be important for me to keep in touch with my school/college mates often. And as we all experience, these chums are close to us and influence our decision making at various aspects of life.This was an important shift because, these communities were built completely based on one's will and choice and were not sort of "imposed". Many times, our relatives are nothing but extra and unwanted baggage that rarely come to any productive use. So, my friends, for example were my source of strength and inspiration and what empowered me most that I made a choice to build my own community. Then came the web and it has fast paced and overpowered all other developments in community building. So the reason of building a community was to get the "best of the lot". For example, I may not know someone for a long time but when it comes to taking decisions on traveling, I would trust his opinion since he is a frequent traveler. This, according to me is a radical shift in terms community building compared to earlier times. Because, you are valuing a person based on his knowledge and giving a lower priority to acquaintance. There may not have been much of sharing of information and getting-to-know between you and him ( which is how, traditionally, communities were built). I would still trust my friend's opinion more ( which is to say that the importance of the traditional concept of community has not diminished), however there is a chance that he may not know much about the place that I want to travel. Therefore, I resort to the Mr. knowledgeable. I am not suggesting a specific person in this, in fact, it could be a community on Facebook or My Space which could be live and offering discussions, interactions on the topic of my choice. Another aspect of community building compared to earlier times is that no one wants to maintain a community for long and kind of be "attached". This again goes contrary to the earlier ways, when there was a lot of thought about "long term relationship building" and "we would be there for each other" for ever. Its more of build-use-exit. You may or may not exit but there is no strong intention not to exit. So communities would be transient, temporary and only "for now". Another reason that choices are becoming more specific and specialized that no one community can suffice one's needs. For example, a person may offer great advice on travel to the UK and the do's and dont's. But how far would he know about, for example, Coventry Cathedral in West Midlands and its history and his own experience would be questionable. So I would then ask someone/community who knows about this piece of information better.

So to summarise, the take aways are that a. there is a dramatic shift in communities building b. communities are not built to last c. information is going to be very important to build a community and sustain it.

Considering all these factors, social media has a big role to play and there is no doubt that it is till evolving.

Five questions you need to ask before you THINK about social media

2010-11-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

Its really become a cliche' to speak about social media by all and sundry especially by those with some basic knowledge of Facebook and Twitter can one profess to be an "expert". And to make matters worse, social media is free-so to say. Therefore, attaching a value to social media for marketing can be difficult; I have experienced that people find it difficult to comprehend the reason why one has to pay when its all "free". For many, ( including those offering social media services) the conversations start and end with opening profiles on Facebook and Twitter and getting people to "follow". Understandably, this is the most visible output that one sees so getting someone to cut through this impression initially can be difficult. However, whatever perceptions people have about social media and its application, its important to reason whether there really is a need and what should one ask oneself before adopting this new age media.

Here are some five questions that one needs to ask oneself before thinking of using social media for marketing.

1. Do you really need social media and if yes, what are your goals?
2. Have you done an online marketing audit to understand your company/brand's online presence? What mentions do you see of your company/brand? What message is being communicated, if any?
3. Who is going to manage social media once its set up? Its a no brainer to open up profiles but you need to manage it and clearly you shouldn't employ an intern for this job.
4. Do you have a social media plan in place or you are doing it just because everybody does and its "free"? Are you aware of the results that can accomplished?
5. Do you have a social media policy in place? Are your employees, customers and other stake holders aware about your social media plans and whether you intend to educate them about it?

I think before jumping on to the social media bandwagon and doing it like you could be losing out on something really important, it would be helpful if you ask these questions before you think about social media. Once this is done, I think one could have a better perspective and then, social media could be an important ingredient in one's overall marketing plan.

Social Media Summit-Future of Social Media

2010-10-23T04:14:00.001-07:00

As a speaker invited to speak on "Future of Social Media" (20th October 2010), I gathered my thoughts, did some research and prepared to what I felt on how Social Media would look like in the future. Clearly, there are so many developments happening in this space that it becomes difficult to predict also considering the fact we are talking about an industry which is tried, tested and experimented in so many different ways. Here are some important developments that I felt could be seen in the near future and some issues that we would have to face.

1. Exclusivity: As social media gets crowded and everybody is sort of jumping into it, adding friends, sending messages, participating. However, this excitement would be short lived. Compare this with an analogy of email particularly when we started using it in the beginning. We were thrilled to open an account and started telling our friends about it and how we would be glad to hear from them. Slowly,we started getting unwanted mails and it dawned upon us that a lot of it is spam and unwanted emails. Having learnt the hard way, we are now very careful to disclose our email id or subscribe to any information. Social networks would meet the same fate soon since people would be uncomfortable with so many requests coming and that would result in a lot of noise. As a result, we would want to keep our networks exclusive, filled with people who we know, whom we want to share information and those whom we want to receive information from.

2. Privacy: Privacy issues have been common for Facebook, Google and many of the prominent social media channels. But for a user like us, it would be naive to ignore the seriousness of the issues that we could need to face. Locational privacy is something that could translate an online thing into an offline matter. Its one thing to share which movie you saw yesterday or which ice cream you like and another thing to put up on your status update where you are going for a vacation. That opens up a whole range of possibilities for burglary or theft. In fact, to highlight the seriousness of this issue, Please Rob Me, a mash up between Foursquare and Twitter aggregated location content from these sites and put them up PLR. This is of course just a tip of the iceberg as we could run into problems by sharing information.

3. Social TV: Whether TV would replace the PC or vice-versa is a question everyone seems to be asking. None, according to me. However, we would soon witness the era of Social TV wherein the internet is made interactive on TV. Google TV is a step in this direction. This would also usher in an era of T-Commerce wherein people would, for example would want to check out the attire worn by a TV star and where has he purchased from, the reviews of that particular store, how many of his friends have bought from it, what do they have to say, so on and so forth. Already, there is simultaneous consumption happening between TV and social media wherein people are texting while watching their favourite TV soap and exchanging comments.

4. Pattern recognition devices: Imagine a device that gives you every information that you need to have if you just scan an image of your desired product. Or more interestingly, if you scan a good looking face in a pub, you could have a social profile popping up and you would be updated on what are the likes, dislikes of your object of desire. You could also know whether she is single or into a relationship so that you are informed whether to make that first move or not! You could also use this device into say, a retail store and get a lot of information about the product you wish to buy, what people are saying about it, its use etc.

TED talks on Social Media:Alex Ohanian of Reddit.com

2010-09-29T21:37:00.001-07:00

Social Media as an HR tool

2010-09-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

One of the doubts that is often asked by my clients is, if they have to use social media for marketing, their clients should have an online presence which is the basis really to develop meaningful conversations with them. That is one of the perspectives which may not be entirely invalid.However, to get them on"board" and begin a social media relationship with them, I ask them if they would be willing to work around internally for their staff? That would be easier for them to monitor and gauge whether this technology works for them and how much? The tools can be set up and a monitoring mechanism can be put in place. They could even request their staff to start using the community page, board etc. for example,at least half an hour everyday. I also develop a social media policy on the do's and dont's for the staff so that there is a direction into which their energies are focused at the same time the objectives of the client are met. It has worked well for my clients and I guess this is an acceptable proposition for most and one of my ways to help them get a taste of social media.

Invited as a panelist for Social Media Summit 2010 in Mumbai

2010-09-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

Social Media Summit 2010 organised by Virtue Insight on October 20th 2010 promises to be an important event for those interested in Social Media and whats happening in this industry. This event is organised in Hotel Orchid, Mumbai.

I am invited as a panel member for a discussion on "Overlooking the future of social media" during this Summit.

Key Themes discussed at this Summit:

Why care about social media marketing (SMM)?
Outlining the growth of social media and its benefits in today’s Asian market
Analyzing the worldwide trends in social media & lessons to be learned for Indian market
How should brands use social media? Illustrating with case studies
Forecasting revenue growth for brands with ultimate utilisation of social media
Recognizing SMM as a demand generation tool for brands, products & services to boost business growth
Discuss and identify the innovative strategies for a cost effective SMM plan to boost sales, nurture your product & establish an impactful brand presence in the market
How social media is evolving through mobile applications - What is next for mobile social media?
Engaging customers though mobile apps and mobile social media
Selecting your appropriate social media agency. How can marketers use social media and achieve ROI?
Analyzing the practices for delivering PR campaigns across multiple social media platforms
Global marketing strategies in order to incite the user to use advanced social media services.
Strategies on boosting the penetration of social media in smaller cities and rural areas.
Analysing revenue generating models via various channels like (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blogs etc)
Establishing social media marketing as a ROI strategy while growing your brands, products and services
SMM as a contrivance for improving customer base & brand loyalty.

Details on registering for this event:

Ordering is simple! You can simply email or call and book your seats on

TEL: +91 (44) 2377 0517. Email – delegate@virtueinsight.com

For this one day conference, conference fee is 07,000 INR + tax per person

For 2 - 3 delegates - 06,000 INR + tax per person

For 3 and more delegates - 05,000 INR + tax per person

Should you have any queries, please feel free to write to us – info@virtueinsight.com

Talk on "Socialmedianomics" on September 15th 2010

2010-09-14T04:25:00.000-07:00

After my talk on Social Media as a new age marketing tool a fortnight back, I have been invited by The Institute of Management and Research for a talk on "Socialmedianomics". This is a 90 minutes talk during which I intend to familiarise the audience with the basics of social media, introducing various channels, tools used and a social media marketing plan. This is an introductory lecture on social media but depending on the understanding of the audience, I could cover advanced topics, possibbly in greater detail.

Talk on Social Media-New Age Marketing

2010-08-31T00:13:00.000-07:00

I was invited to speak on "Social Media-New Age Marketing"at Nasik Management Association on September 2nd for about 90 minutes. The objective of this lecture was to familiarise the audience on Social Media and how it is a useful marketing tool for everyone. Another aim was to explain how it could be an effective branding tool and used for research. I was expecting two types of audience, one who are not familiar with Social Media and two who are using Facebook, Twitter etc for personal uses but are not aware how it can be used professionally Assuming these facts, I began by starting my presentation by first explaining the power of Web 2.0 compared to Web 1.0 and how it is a force to reckon with especially in the context of Social Media. Key facts about social media usage, tools, sites like Facebook,Linkedin, Twitter, Digg, Youtube, Flicker would be presented and how they are used for social media marketing. I also presenting a case study of a beauty clinic and on how social media was used effectively to launch a new package they had introduced. Some short examples were also discussed relevant to the International context. To set the ball rolling, I also explained basic certain aspects like the difference between traditional media and social media, how to create your pages/groups,how to circulate information on sharing sites etc. Finally, this session turned out to be interactive and I think the audience gained on how Social media could be used for marketing people, products and places.

Who, what or where?

2010-08-18T03:52:00.000-07:00

What information does a consumer get attracted to more often? Whether it is knowledge about the product in terms of its source, its make,origin? For example, how important are variables like, who is the manufacturer of the product, is it a well known company, what is the past history?
Whether it is the features about the product in terms of, for example, if its a bike, what mileage is offered, how much power it has, how fast it can accelerate, what is the price ?
Or whether it is in terms of the where is it made-country/city, where do I get it, where did I see it last, where can I buy it-all questions related to the geography of the product.
In marketing terminology, especially the 4Ps, the first one would be related to the "product". So if this aspect is important in a product category for example, an industrial product the emphasis would be on this part more.
The second is relevant for "promotions" since in advertisements, features of products are spoken about more. So a mobile phone would harp on the double sim feature, music storage, camera megapixels, so on and so forth.
The third would be relevant to "place" which is about channels-wholesalers, distributors, retailers. So for a marketing person it is important how well he manages all the channels in terms of "where" the consumer gets what he wants, at the right place.

Taxonomy of social networking data

2010-08-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of taxonomy of social netowokring data that is useful:

Service data is the data you give to a social networking site so that it is used. Data like this might include your legal name, your age, and your credit-card number.

Disclosed data is what you post on your own pages: blogs, pis, messages, opinions etc.

Entrusted data is what you post on other people’s pages/sites. It basically means the same as disclosed data, but the difference is that you don’t have control over the data once you post it — the other user does.

Incidental data is what other people post about you: a writeup by someone about you, a picture of you that someone else clicks and posts. Again, it’s basically the same as disclosed data, but the difference is that you don’t have control over it, and you didn’t create it in the first place.

Behavioral data is data the site collects about your habits by recording what you do and who you do it with. It might include games you play, topics you write about, news articles you access (and what that says about your political leanings), and so on.

Derived data is data about you that is derived from all the other data. For example, if 80 percent of your friends self-identify as gay, you’re likely gay yourself.”

Why Google Wave failed

2010-07-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

Its come and its gone before anyone could notice it. The google wave disappeared as quickly as a wave that never really intimidated any of the serious micro blogging sites. So what went wrong? As is true of social networking sites ( and of the internet business), the concept must catch the netizen's eye and if that happens, it spreads like wild fire. There was also no reason to be on it -unlike twitter or facebook where everyone is on it and if YOU are not, you are "left out". It also did not create a mass quickly which is so very important in this business.I also recollect Malcolm Gladwell's book, "Blink" wherein he writes how those "two seconds" are really important to catch anyone's fancy and if you can do that, you could achieve wonders with your product. I think Google wave failed to create an impact in these first two seconds.

Aggregate or Die!

2010-03-18T05:44:00.000-07:00

I wrote about aggregation of all social media into one single platform some time back. I can see that many of my friends are already irritated with the prospects of managing a Twitter, Facebook or a Linkedin. Clearly, it is time consuming and not an enjoyable task. To top it all, one can see many more social networks,micro blogging sites with niche offerings practically every day.One cannot be definitely be all around the place. So what does the future hold ? Google has come up with Gmail Labs which has added several features to make the inbox a central communication platform. From video conferencing to SMS to instant messaging, Gmail is no longer only for e-mail, it’s growing into an information and communication hub. So on and so forth with a Hootsuite or a Tweetdeck where you can manage multiple platforms on a single dashboard. The future of course lies in having an inbox which will not be just for checking mails but also to manage identities across various platforms. So you will get Flickers,Twitters,Facebook updates all in an inbox-one single identity.

Changing roles of Marketing Managers

2010-03-17T22:58:00.000-07:00

One of the most visible changes due to the prominence of online media is the shift in the role of a Sr.Marketing Manager/Director. Besides being brand experts, they are becoming more data savvy as digital media creates a need for converting all data into actionable formats. Understanding insights generated through digital channels are the need of the hour since along with other metrics such as customer value and potential are becoming important.The digital media is a real asset to organisations which in conjunction with traditional marketing disciplines such as segmentation, strategy, media management etc.can be a useful weapon for all Sr Marketing Managers. At the end of the day a marketer is essentially working on three aspects with customers : acquisition, development/maintaining them and retention. Marketers that combine all channels into a holistic view of their customers will surge ahead of competition and companies that make investments in this area will most certainly have an edge.

Prospects of Social Media in India

2010-03-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

Potential for Social Media in India

View more presentations from Pankaj Muthe.

Is the buzz with Google BUZZ fading?

2010-03-08T23:28:00.000-08:00

It would be close to a that Google Buzz was launched. I have used it on and off and everybody would agree, its no great shakes. What started off with a lot of potential, looks to end up in a mess.But again, it’s been a month so there could be more, lets wait n watch. I also wonder if it could have started with some different feature, rather than just "updates". People are not excited by that anymore. I mean agreed FB was the first kid on the block and Twitter popularised it but you can throw the same stuff again and again.

What Google could have done was to do something with its location-based service: Latitude. But I wonder how many use Latitude. Or if they do, they likely don’t even realize they’re using it because it’s just turned on in the background. And that’s precisely why Latitude doesn’t appeal or is not exciting.

The past several months have proven that consumer demand for location services is dependent on one thing: the ability to “check-in.” That is, rather than having a service that is always on in the background transmitting your location (like Latitude), people are actually using the services that allow you to display when and where your location is sent out.

Checking-in is cool for people because of two main things: user friendly and privacy. People prefer checking-in because it drives in logic. You hit a button to say you’re somewhere, and it gets sent and displayed. You don’t have to worry about whether your cell phone is always transmitting because you’re in charge of it. In the future, as people become more comfortable with the concept, I suspect some form of “always-on” location will become the norm, but for now, it’s just a beginning.

Maybe Buzz is the location-based service that Google should have thought of to be built in. It has the idea of checking-in built into it; you simply do so by buzzing from your cell phone. When you do that, Google offers you the opportunity to tag your buzz to a certain location and instantly send it out to your friends.

Lets see if they do it? Keep buzzin' in!

5 handy tips to get more out of Google Analytics | yesterdayshero

2010-02-23T22:16:00.000-08:00

5 handy tips to get more out of Google Analytics | yesterdayshero

SOCIAL MEDIA IN TRAVEL

2010-02-13T02:20:00.000-08:00

Have you ever gone on vacation to a foreign place (when I say foreign, I mean a place completely unknown and one you’ve never been to before)and wondered which is the best place to eat is, what hotel suits be needs, which one maintains hygiene standards etc.? Social media has opened up a window to all this and other concerns that a traveller to a new place may have. It’s the world of reviews where customers express their views that will be heard. No longer will hotels be laid back and "surprise" customers on towels and think that nothing can be done. Vacationers will now be able to instantly tweet, blog, email, post feedback on review sites, capture a video to post on YouTube or viameo share their experiences quickly to their audience and friends thereby creating an image about a hotel they have never been to. How is this different from the normal word of mouth? This is faster, many people can view it ( not just your friends) and more people can support/ reject by their own reviews.

When I go traveling, I’m interested to know the reviews of food joints. If it’s less than 3 stars, I become weary of the place, but at the same time am looking forward to the reviews because it will tell me whether the service I receive is worthy of my time and money. Without anything positive, I know that I’ll move on, no matter how “world famous” the cuisine and food is. This is where sites like OpenTable, Yelp and Thummit come into play. You indicate cost, location, the ability to reserve a table and the menu, the restaurants may tend to do more business or at least provide enough information to eat at your establishment.

If you’re traveling for business, you need to obviously do some planning ahead of time. When traveling for a conference or event, you’ll typically have a “host hotel” that most everyone stays at. But what if you look on Google and see that another hotel is nearby and TripAdvisor or reviews of Google indicate that it has free wireless access while the “host hotel” does not and is of similar price. As a customer, you might be more interested in free wireless rather than paying for it. Jeremiah Owyang makes a point in his article about how hotels should not charge for Internet service. This is probably the most important travel resource and you can bet that most review sites will promote free wireless service for nearby hoteliers. So you bet that social media will affect which hotels are stayed at.

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing

2010-02-11T22:11:00.000-08:00

Outbound marketing is where a marketer pushes his message out far with the help of trade shows, seminar series, email blasts, internal cold calling, outsourced telemarketing, and advertising. Inbound marketing is where one attracts visitors naturally through search engines, through the blogosphere and through the social media sites.

Outbound marketing is getting less and less effective over time for a couple of reasons. First, you are bombarded with over 2000 outbound marketing interruptions per day and you as a consumer is figuring out more and more ingenuine ways to block them out that includes avoiding them, by installing a caller id, spam filtering, changing media channels or simply ignoring them. Second, the cost of coordination around assimilating knowledge about something new or shopping for something new by using the internet through search engines, blogs, and social media sites is now much lower than attending a seminar in Five Star Hotel at the Taj or flying to a trade show in Delhi.

Rather than indulge in outbound marketing to the masses of people who are trying to block you out, "inbound marketing" is an intelligent way where you help yourself "discovered" by people already learning about and shopping in your industry. In order to do this, you need to set your website up like a "magnet" for your industry that attracts traffic naturally through the search engines, through the blogosphere, and through the social media sites. I believe most marketers today spend 90% of their efforts on outbound marketing and 10% on inbound marketing which in the near future would see a major shift.

Inbound Marketing and Social Media Marketing

2010-02-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

Inbound Marketing is marketing aimed at getting found by customers.

In conventional marketing (outbound marketing) companies focus on hunting customers. They use techniques that are poorly targeted and that interrupt audience. They use cold-calling, print advertising, T.V. advertising, junk mail, spam and trade shows, exhibitions etc.

Changes in technology is making these initiatives less effective and unaffordable. Companies use caller ID to block cold calls, TiVo makes T.V. advertising less effective, spam filters block mass emails and tools like RSS are making print and display advertising less effective. It's still possible to get a message out via these channels, but it definitely costs a hell of a lot of money .

Inbound Marketers flip outbound marketing on its head. Let me explain how:

Instead of interrupting people with television ads, they create videos that propects want to see. Instead of buying display ads in print publications, they create their own blog that people subscribe to and look forward to reading. Instead of cold calling, they create useful content and tools so that people call them looking for more information and updates.

Instead of driving their message into a crowd over and over again like a sledgehammer, they attract highly qualified customers to their business like a magnet.

The most successful Inbound Marketing campaigns have three key elements:

(1) Content - Content is the essence of any Inbound Marketing campaign. It is the information or tool that attracts prospects to your site or your business platform.

(2) Search Engine Optimization - SEO makes it easier for propects to find your content. It is the practice of building your site and inbound links to your site to maximize your ranking in search engines, where most of your customers begin their buying process.

(3) Social Media - Social media amplifies the impact of your content. When your content is spread across and discussed on networks, communities,groups, it becomes more authentic and nuanced, and is more likely to draw qualified customers to your site.This increases web traffic

Social Media Marketing links-TOOLS AND ANALYTICS

2010-01-27T20:04:00.000-08:00

Following is a list of tools and analytics that can be used for Social Media :

Google Alerts
http://www.google.com/alerts

Technorati
http://technorati.com/

FeedBurner
http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home

Google Analytics
http://www.google.com/analytics/

Woopra
http://www.woopra.com/

Social Mention
http://www.socialmention.com/