MxMIndia

Tag: social media

  • In many ways, in its current avatar IndiBlogger is a social network for Indian bloggers

    Blogging site IndiBlogger helps brands talk to customers

    By Preethi Chamikutty

     

    For most of us a blog is a destination to put up a view, an experience, a rant, videos and photos – some vivid, others vicarious – and then get back to a mundane life. But five hardcore bloggers from Chennai decided to be an exception when they founded IndiBlogger.in, a congregation of Indian bloggers who totalled some 27,000 at last count.

     

    With a tagline ‘Indians by birth, bloggers by choice,’ the IndiBlogger team fields more than 70 requests daily from wannabe Indibloggers. Vineet Rajan, 27, one of the directors who set up the site said: “We started off trying to just create a directory that allowed bloggers to submit their blogs.”

     

    Over the years, more features have been added based on what the community demanded on its discussion forums. For instance, the site now has IndiVine, a chat application, and Indi-Rank, a ranking algorithm for bloggers in India.

     

    In many ways, in its current avatar IndiBlogger is a social network for Indian bloggers.

     

    “It’s like LinkedIn for bloggers with an exclusive dashboard, and activity feeds that let them track other bloggers’ posts, and more,” Mr Rajan pointed out.

     

    It’s a unique concept and community, but at the end of the day it needs to make money. IndiBlogger’s revenue stream is, what Rajan calls, “earned media”, which he says is what brands are clamouring for. “With its blogs IndiBlogger can help brands build more trust and credibility than any other online media can,” he claimed.

     

    Mr Rajan cites Neilsen Global Trust in Advertising survey, 2011 that shows less than a third of netizens trust ads; in comparison 92 per cent who have faith in peer and word-of-mouth recommendations.

     

    IndiBlogger’s first brand engagement was with Microsoft through a blogger meet in 2007. Since then IndiBlogger has organized 50 such congregations; these have been coupled with over 50 contests with brands across sectors like consumer goods, travel & aviation and retailing among others. Samsung, Pepsi, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Castrol, Cleartrip and Tata Docomo are some brands that have engaged with consumers through IndiBlogger.

     

    Last November, HUL’s Surf Excel used IndiBlogger to engage with women bloggers on the site via a blogger contest called ‘Surf Excel Matic #GetSmart.’

     

    Targeted at urban women in the 25+ age group, Surf managed to reach a little over 25 lakh netizens using IndiBlogger and its tools like IndiRank and IndiVine, says an HUL spokesperson. Maximum readers were from the cities of Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi and Pune.

     

    “Bloggers are publishers and the popular ones have a good readership .They know the art of expressing their views and thoughts on a certain topic in an interesting way which also wins them dedicated following over time. The popular bloggers also have good networking skills which they use to publicise the content on their blogs on various social platforms,” said the HUL spokesperson.

     

    When popular bloggers write about a brand and its core message, it reaches their followers and readers of the blog. This also results in a lot of user-generated content for the brand, essentially making these bloggers the brand’s ambassadors, added the HUL spokesperson.

     

    In the Surf Excel Matic contest, although only 41per cent of the participants were women, they garnered more than 55per cent of the entire readership of the campaign, thereby, helping the campaign achieve its objective.

     

    For Castrol, which wanted to engage with passionate bikers, IndiBlogger was an extension of the lubricant brand’s presence in digital and social media. In the ‘Castrol Power1 Biker code of India’ contest, bloggers were encouraged to share what biking meant to them. The contest got 170 entries and the blogs attracted an audience of roughly 1 million viewers within the first 30 days of the campaign.

     

    “Besides creating a powerful platform to engage with bikers, the contest enabled us to gather rich insights about our target group, which is the passionate biker,” said Saugata Basuray, deputy head of marketing at Castrol India.

     

    Besides being an aggregator, IndiBlogger also provides assistance to people who approach the site with technical queries about how to make a blog, how to get a domain name and so on.

     

    A 14-member team spread across Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi are responsible for maintaining the site, providing assistance and monitoring for offensive content. The blogger meets are mostly outsourced to event management companies who liaison with core members of the IndiBlogger team.

     

    Started with an investment of Rs10,000, the site turned profitable in June

    2010 and, according to Mr Rajan, their blogger database grew 37 per cent in 2011-12 over the previous fiscal year. He is wary talking about the company financials but says the website is on track to achieve $2 million revenues by 2015.

     

    Blogs are today gaining currency as a medium for engagement and Kanika Mathur, president, Digitas India, a digital marketing agency, says the influence that blogs can have on a brand is hard to dismiss. “People who go online today are looking for a point of view, so either they get this point of view from the brand or from a third person. Bloggers are a set of experienced people whose opinion has great credibility as they are not from the brand side,” she said.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • While email marketing may be a cost-effective medium enabling larger reach, the challenges that accompany it are also large

    Email Marketing: Vast opportunities make it a favourite with brands

    By Robin Thomas

     

    Easily the most preferred medium for a brand or marketer to get close to his consumer, digital has never seen such a fervent chase being put up by its users. While it was mostly search and display advertisements that advertisers flocked to, much of digital advertising is still unexplored territory. The importance of engaging the youth through social media marketing has only just been realized, while video marketing and mobile advertising are also gaining traction among marketers.

     

    According to a recent IAMAI-IMRB report on Digital Advertising (as on March 2012), the total advertising spends including classifieds was valued at Rs2,850 crore.  It is expected that by FY2013 the digital advertisement spends will be about Rs4,391 crore.

     

    The March 2012 report on digital advertising points out that search advertising constitutes about 20 per cent of the total online advertising spend or about Rs570 crore.  The report also states that advertisements on social media, email and video over the Internet constitutes about 3 per cent (Rs94 crore), 5 per cent (Rs144 crore) and 2 per cent (Rs59 crore) respectively. What is noteworthy is that a major proportion, around 53 per cent, of the overall digital advertising spends come from classifieds listing (Rs1,496 crore).

     

    With such infinite possibilities continuing to emerge on a frequent basis around the medium, one tool that has been a favourite with the marketers in the recent past is email advertising. With just a handful of players that operate in the realm of providing email services, it becomes all the more challenging for owners to come up ideas that catch the attention of the advertisers. The question is whether there is enough being done around the vertical or if companies are missing out on the edge that this medium can possibly offer.

     

    The IAMAI – IMRB Digital Advertising report already states that email advertising is worth 5 per cent of the overall digital advertising spends. According to industry estimates, email advertising is expected to grow from the current Rs144 crore to Rs250 crore in the next year or two. The role or purpose of email marketing is said to be about delivering the message and inviting consumers into brand engagement. Further, with mobile internet being touted to take internet inIndiato new heights, email marketing is expected to also thrive in the long run.

     

    Mr Prasanth Mohanachandran, Co founder, AgencyDigi stated: “email marketing is very relevant and important today, it is cost-effective and reaches to wide range of audience. While it is already witnessing growth, mobile will only further grow email marketing as nearly 27 per cent of mails received by consumers are on handheld devices. The challenge, however, is to find newer ways to reach out to the consumers’ inbox and not their spam. Segmentation in email marketing will also help brands reach their relevant consumers.”

     

    Mr Gaurav Nabh, Business Head, Quasar was of the view that since email is the most used platform for internet users in India, it is absolutely important and critical for any brand as a medium for reaching out to its consumer. “It is a communication medium, much like print, radio or TV. What you do with this platform and how you are able to maximize its effectiveness depends on the idea and approach,” he said.

     

    What is noteworthy about email marketing is that it acts as a reach building medium by allowing brands to segment the audience as per their demographics and profile, and thus directly targeting them. While email marketing may be a cost-effective medium enabling larger reach, the challenges that accompany it are also large. Most email advertisements tend to be unsolicited mails and thus enter the spam mail. Lack of creative email advertisements could be another challenge for this business and hence it must not only get more creative but, also innovative in terms of rich media and interactivity and so on.

     

    “A lot has been done with email marketing as a platform – from embedding previews of videos to lead generation, polls and voting. The limitations of the platform are based on poor bandwidth and technology limitation of most email clients and platforms. email marketing has been most successful for finance and real estate sector – helping them in generating leads. email marketing is here to stay as it has a role and purpose and the fact that it is cost effective. Email marketing will over time be seen not as a reach builder, but that of targeted awareness, and a medium to initiate and enable dialogue rather than just spread the message,” affirmed Mr Nabh of Quasar.

     

    Mr Saurav Patnaik, VP-Marketing, Kenscio Digital Marketing Pvt Ltd was of the view that email marketing or digital direct marketing does not lack innovation, but to a great extent, is lacking creativity. “The agency’s focus has been on producing beautiful communication, but not much attention has been given to this channel. The road ahead is bright for this channel of marketing. We are very positive about the future and India as a market is growing and more the penetration of the internet happens the bigger it will get in the next few years,” he said.

     

    Mr Gupta of DGM India noted: “Spam is a big issue, due to which it faces similar issues as SMS marketing. Like SMS, email marketing is also being done by loads of small/unorganized players. Due to this the larger players with opted-in databases are not getting their due pricing and share. Because of its nature, email marketing is being predominantly used for activation/ response oriented campaigns rather than branding campaigns. It is, in fact, very cost effective for these objectives. Also it is very effective in lead generation campaigns for BFSI, travel packages, auto, online listing businesses etc. It also works very well for highly niche products.”

     

    While industry players are of the opinion that email marketing is here to stay and will grow over the years there is a need to be innovative and creative in delivering the message to the audience. E-marketing must be used to send relevant information and brands must start a meaningful dialogue with their consumers through email marketing. In order to escape spam and reach their consumers directly, email marketing could be used as a perfect tool for permission marketing. As internet consumption through mobile or smart phones grow, and consumers are given unique experience on mobile, email marketing could possibly witness a whole new chapter in the way it gets consumed.

     

  • A weekly column by Paritosh Joshi, until recently CEO, Star CJ. Given his varied experience in the media and industry bodies, Mr Joshi will analyse issues concerning the business of media, measurement and research

    Paritosh Joshi: Who will cast the first stone?

    By Paritosh Joshi

     

    You’ve got to give it to Aamir Khan. Any theme he raises through his cinema, and now his television show, instantly becomes the issue du jour. Dyslexia (Taare Zameen Par), rigid education practices (Three Idiots), anguish at the political establishment (Rang de basanti), morality of terrorism (Fanaa) and now in rapid fire succession the weekly episodes of Satyameva Jayate (everything from female foeticide to medical malpractice). If the worlds of the social media are anything to go by, people in the Media & Communications industry are particularly engaged in Aamir’s weekly broadsides. Minutes after the week’s episode goes on air at 11am on Sunday, Twitter is deluged with views and opinions agreeing, and less often disagreeing, with Mr. Khan.

     

    You would imagine, looking at the stridency of tone that characterizes a lot of the chatter, that we belong to an industry that has solid claim on the high moral ground. Does it?

     

    I became involved with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) about 6 years back. As a communication professional, I was conscious of the close and incessant scrutiny that our industry attracted and of the permanent Damocles’ Sword of statutory regulation that hung over it. The ASCI charter’s commitment to self-regulate resonated strongly with me and joining the Consumer Complaints Council, which gives force to the Self Regulatory Code of the ASCI, was a natural next step.

     

    If Awards Functions like the Abbys and Cannes are the Halls of Fame of the industry, CCC must qualify as its identification parade for the Rogues’ Gallery. Education institutions that claim their superiority, not based upon quality of education facilities they offer, but the acreage of their campus. Cooking oils that assure you of defence against cancer. Fairness potions promising enhanced employability. Malted beverages that deliver anything from height gain to better grades in the exams. A whole spectrum of beers and spirits veiled very thinly under guises of ‘Music CDs’, ‘Unique Events’, ‘Golf Equipment’ or ‘Soda’. Apparatuses that promise the benefits of a cardio workout by merely placing your feet in a harness and allowing them to shake about for a few minutes. Perfumes and deodorants that will instantly cause the user to become a sexual dynamo around whom people of the other gender experience spontaneous orgasms. Plastic beads and metal baubles that will ‘guard against the evil eye’, pacify irate planetary deities and result in a shower of wealth. Or in a particularly horrifying instance, a hospital that advertised radical hysterectomies as a permanent solution against pre-menstrual syndrome. We’ve seen them all.

     

    While some offenders are no-name businesses, the largest majority are big and prominent businesses that we all hold in high esteem. Indeed, we must look well beyond the brand owners to understand the circle of culpable accessories that enable the offending communication to reach the consumer. The creative work originates in an advertising agency. A marketing team approves it for release. A media agency sets up a media schedule. Multiple media outlets finally convey it to the consumer. In many cases, all the organisations that are involved through this value chain are members of the Advertising Standards Council by virtue of which they are presumably committed to the ASCI Code. While the complaint is made and upheld against the brand owner, the actual burden of guilt correctly lies with all the accessories that participated in the process.

     

    Interestingly, whenever the issue of legally dodgy, false, misleading or vulgar advertising crop in professional discourse, the ASCI is indicted forthwith, for its abject failure in bringing the perpetrators to book. Of recent days, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has joined the chorus, promising a ‘National Consumer Protection Agency’ aka the other NCPA, to become the consumer’s paladin against advertising mischief. Apparently the phrase ‘Self-regulation’ is indecipherable to the average communication industry professional.

     

    Self-regulation begins by a body representing all stakeholders in a particular context agreeing to a code of ethical practice. This code is then widely shared with all stakeholders so that they may understand and assimilate its letter and spirit. Once this has been done, self-regulation transfers the burden of compliance upon the practitioner. The overseeing authority is not a policeman. It is a conscience keeper.

     

     

    This is an exhortation. A humble request. How clean is our own escutcheon before we pronounce moral judgment on all and sundry? Or as Aamir might say, “Apne ghirebaan mein jhaank kar dekha hai kabhi?”

    Paritosh Joshi was until recently CEO, Star CJ. He has been a marketer, a mediaperson and been a key officebearer on industry bodies. He can reached via his Twitter handle @paritoshZero

  • AliveNow will carry out digital marketing activities for Forum Mall, Koromangala and Forum Value Mall, Whitefield

    Forum malls appoints AliveNow for social media

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Forum Mall, one ofBangalore’s first full-fledged malls, has appointed AliveNow as its social media partner. AliveNow will carry out digital marketing activities for Forum Mall, Koromangala and Forum Value Mall, Whitefield.

     

    Rama Raju, GM – Mall Operations said: “Forum Mall, being one of the pioneers of the mall culture inBangalore, is gearing up to elevate the brand proposition to the next level. Understanding the demographics of our TG who are significantly prevalent on social media platforms, we are pursuing to establish a better user interface to engage them further. We aim to create such an experience wherein our customers, even while being seated within the comfort of their homes, can still interact with us. Our goal is to enable our customers to carry the experience of visiting our mall out of the premises and beyond, thus creating effective brand recall.”

     

    AliveNow CEO, Adhvith Dhuddu added: “We are very excited to partner with Forum Mall and the Prestige Group to promote this iconic mall on social media. Malls could benefit from these social media tools and push the brand towards better visibility, and we plan to execute some very innovative and interesting campaigns for Forum Mall on Facebook and other social platforms.”

     

  • The jury at Cannes is a mature set of people, so one cannot pass off mediocre work and fool the judges

    Road to CL2013: The way to win at Cannes is by not aiming for a metal

    The Cannes metal wins for India has been disappointing. There could be various reasons for it and the metal tally definitely doesn’t point that the work coming out of India is of inferior category. However, it does point that there is something more required from India n agencies to gain attention of the international jury. Who better that people on the Cannes jury this year to show us some light on where the agencies could improve and what really went behind the judging. We spoke to a few on the jury this year to understand where India went wrong and what can be done to reclaim some of the lost ground this year.

     

    Rahul Jauhari, National Creative Director, Everest Brand Solutions

    Rahul Jauhari

    I don’t think you can aim at Cannes by doing something that can win at Cannes . Most winning entries at Cannes are brilliant solutions to one business issue or another. “Let’s do something like that one” ­ is not going to get you anywhere. The point is to solve the business issue facing your brand with a wonderful idea and execution. If it is that wonderful, it will win.

     

    And yes, the glorious part is in doing it in a way that is relevant to the India n audience. The jury are not fools. They can see through scams, in most cases. They ask relevant questions and give a lot of importance to the logic of the communication. They reward ingenuity, but not at the cost of authenticity.Brazilwins a lot of awards at Cannes . But their work is unmistakably Brazilian. The same goes for other countries. So, the language of your entry is not a minus point, as long as you send in a good explanation.

     

    The jury at Cannes is now well represented by different countries. And that shows in the selection of work. “Let’s do something that integrates social media” is not the answer either. More Facebook likes is not equal to higher chances at a Cannes metal. If the idea is loved, people will spread it on social media. A print ad can lead to online furore or fan-following. The same goes for a TV ad or a radio spot. The consumer builds in social media integration without asking you. So there.

     

    Simply put, the way to win at Cannes is not by aiming for a metal at Cannes . Aim for a brilliant solution or idea. Execute it brilliantly. Even the simplest of ideas can win. There is that little bit about the packaging, though. When a jury member has to sift through a thousand plus entries, he or she will not suffer a poorly packaged entry. Keep it simple, keep it to the point. Sure make it enjoyable. But remember, the jury wants to know how you did it, why you did it and what it achieved. Inform them, but don’t bore them to death. And don’t try to con them. Most are highly experienced and can tell a fake from a real. Instantly.

     

    Sunil Gautam, Founder, HanmerMSL

    This is the fourth year for Cannes PR Lions which saw 1,130 entries from 61 countries, the highest number of entries received by Cannes Lions in this category ever. 134 entries were short listed. India had 19 entries, 1 was short-listed.

     

    The composition of jury was very good and it represented the cross-section from the world over. There was a lot of interaction and discussion before finalising the winners. According to me, it was very professional judging and the experience was awesome.

     

    India had 19 entries in this category, and many of them came up for lively discussion. Of these, one entry was short listed. Unfortunately, this entry didn’t get any metal. But the overall effort by the India n agencies was excellent. All the campaigns that were reviewed were very imaginative, with good strategy, execution and measurable impact and results.

     

    My advice to the India n public relations industry is to focus on innovative strategies, immaculate execution and measurable results in such a way that the campaigns that they implement for a client are a huge success. And not to plan campaigns from the short sighted of just winning awards. Good campaigns are appreciated everywhere and they may end up with the awards. The client comes first and they will get awarded if they deserve.

     

    Vikram S Gaikwad, Partner & Executive Creative Director, Creativeland Asia

    Vikram S Gaikwad

    I think there are three simple yet significant aspects to any entry. The idea, its execution and the category in which it is entered. A brilliant idea can miss out simply because it is not entered in the right category.

    With the number of entries running in thousands even in each category, each panel has a unique criteria while judging entries. So, the chances are that a great entry submitted in a wrong category might fail to even get a shortlist.

    Also, we should look at the new categories introduced at Cannes every year.I was disappointed to see little or no work in categories like Mobile, PR and Brand Entertainment & Content categories. With the size of the Indian
    market, number of brands, consumption etc, we are very much capable of capitalising on various opportunities and entering more quality work in the future.

    This year the number of metals that India won has gone significantly low. This definitely is disappointing. So, I am hoping we will make up for it
    next year.

  • MEC and CNBC announce the results of a regional study into this highly sought after yet often un-researched niche segment

    Digital adoption by Asian CEOs limited to device ubiquity: MEC-CNBC study

    By A Correspondent

     

    Top executives are taking up digital technology, but their extent appears to be tempered by their need to remain in control of their business ecosystem, according to new research by MEC and CNBC. The research surveyed 32 CEOs in multi-national companies across Singapore, Hong Kong, India and China.

     

    Adoption of digital technology is currently limited to new devices (smartphones, tablets, and so on), being used for information aggregation and synchronization.

     

    Attitudinally, CEOs in Asia acknowledge the positive benefits of using digital technology in the work place, citing upturns in growth and productivity, a levelling of the playing field and changing business formats. They believe that digital technology will change the way they work in the future. “We’ve only just started but digital technology will significantly change the way we deal with our peers, colleagues, clients and suppliers”, said a CEO from India.

     

    Behaviourally, Asian CEOs consider themselves “fast followers” and claim to be undaunted by the proliferation of new gadgets – they remain in control over how and when these devices are to be used. A CEO in Singapore said he does not “want to be controlled by anyone or a piece of machinery”. An example of this is how mobile phones are often switched off and handed over to secretaries during meetings, for undivided attention.

     

    These CEOs believe that digital technologies are not the “be all and end all” of everything. The same expectations in communications from the past applies in today’s digital age too, from “paying full attention when someone is talking” to having control of their time. As a CEO from a HK company said: “When I’m at home, it’s my time. Unless it’s very urgent, everything can wait till the next morning.”

     

    In essence, CEOs continue to and expect to remain in control of their time and schedules.

     

    CEOs tend to have well-established working behaviours, so technology and devices perform an efficiency or enhancing role, especially on a personal level. New technology has not intrinsically changed the way they behave; it is merely facilitating existing behaviours. “I want to be thoughtful, not just compelled to reply right away. I use these devices to add meaning,” explained a CEO from Singapore.

     

    However, it is clear that CEOs recognize the benefits of technology and how it can revolutionise their business, but also recognise that they have a long way to go.

     

    iPad – the game changer?

    Interestingly, the iPad is possibly the one gadget that has been observed to subtly alter the CEO behaviour. With the trend of consumerisation of technology and more companies embracing the BYOD (bring your own device) policy, the iPad has quickly become a business as well as a personal device.

     

    The iPad is a perfect fit for the needs of this niche target audience. CEOs have expressed a fondness for it, especially for browsing and presenting. A CEO from Singapore said: “When the opportunity arises, I take out my iPad and make a presentation, rather than use my laptop which makes me look like a salesman.”

     

    It is slowly replacing the laptop for short trips and they express a certain liberation that comes with doing that.

     

    “Given that they need to manage complexity, tablets satisfy a specific need from CEOs – simplicity. CEOs are highly selective with their content and only consume what they perceive will add real value to their work and personal lives.  Therefore, brands seeking to communicate with CEOs need to ensure that content is delivered in a concise manner and optimised to be viewed and interacted with on these devices,” said Junji Sumitani, Vice President, Advertising Sales, CNBC, Asia Pacific.

     

    Selective levels of engagement with social media

    Asian CEOs acknowledge that the social media bandwagon is a wave they have yet to, or are hesitant to ride on, either for themselves or for their companies. Personally, they cite valuing their privacy as the reason they are, at best, passive observers of social networks.

     

    Due to the inherent social nature of these networks, there seems to be a fear of opening up access to themselves and not having the bandwidth to deal with it. As a CEO from Hong Kong described it: “There are all these requests I need to accept and I just don’t want to get started on dialogues.”

     

    The innate need to remain in control would clearly be at risk.

     

    However, they do realise the potential of using it for their businesses. Internally, there is some but limited use of social networks for internal communications, stemming from a need to provide a platform for employees to air their opinions rather than as a way to connect and engage with them. “Clearly young people today feel they have a right to question and understand why something is working the way it is and if you don’t provide a mechanism for them to ask that questions and express themselves, they will go outside.  So it is better for us to provide that space within the organization,” said a CEO from India.

     

    Externally, CEOs are starting to explore the benefits of what these networks can do. “It becomes a very interesting B2B tool, so that’s something we are experimenting within the office – how to use social networking for marketing and promotion and positioning for the company.”

     

    “Social networks are not the way to best communicate with CEOs since they are reluctant to lose control of their communication structures. However, they seek recommendations as much as anyone else, often through respected media brands. Hence B2B brands have an opportunity to partner with these media brands to provide valuable, timely content,” commented Jon Wright, Head of Analytics and Insight, MEC Asia Pacific.

     

     

  • Mitrajit Bhattacharya talks of ways of measuring a magazine's performance

    The Anchor: Mitrajit Bhattacharya on 5 areas where print (& mags in particular) need to upgrade their knowledge

    By Mitrajit Bhattacharya

     

    1. Use of econometric modelling to measure advertising impact on sales

    Econometrics can be used to reveal the effects of diminishing returns, ad memory decay and optimisation of media strategies.

     

    2. Measurement of magazines’ social media engagement and building overall engagement indices

    How can social media provide competitive advantage in an undifferentiated market? How tone and themes of conversation can help guide social media strategy? How does social media engagement compare with more traditional measures of engagement?

     

    3. Research into branded content and do’s and don’ts about how to create great advertorials

    Advertorials, whether in print or web, are valued, appealing, well-read if strategised well.

     

    4. Usage and attitude towards iPads and how users experience advertising and content on the device

    How is the consumer engagement with digital devices? How does an iPad user use the device? How many apps do they download? Free apps vs paid apps and usage and attitude towards them.

     

    5. How tablet in-app advertising works

    Learnings to increase the marketing efficiency of in-app ads on tablets.

     

    Mitrajit Bhattacharya is President and Publisher, Chitralekha and Vice-President, Association of Indian Magazines

     

  • The report noted Text100's early focus on digital, along with the strength of its leadership team, product and service development, and regional campaigns

    Text100 named digital consultancy of the year

    By A Correspondent

     

    Text100 APAC has been named Digital Consultancy of the Year for 2012 by The Holmes Report. The report noted Text100’s early focus on digital, along with the strength of its leadership team, product and service development, and regional campaigns.

     

    As reported by The Holmes Report, Text100 was one of the first firms to position itself as a leader inAsia’s fast-growing social media arena, launching a sophisticated range of services in 2008. And, unlike many of its global peers, many of the network’s digital efforts are led by the region, under the oversight of global social media lead Jeremy Woolf.

     

    In 2011 the firm broadened its capabilities, launching a dedicated design and digital support hub inMalaysia, expanding its digital headcount, and stepping up a digital training programme that is as advanced as any in the region.

     

    All of those efforts paid off, as its Cisco ‘Flip Your Profile’ programme landed the Global and Asia-Pacific SABRE Award recognition in the social media category, and Text grew its digital mandate for numerous clients, including IBM, Lenovo, Yahoo, Cisco and Nokia.

     

    “At Text100, we define ‘Digital’ as something that encompasses all forms of communications that are technology-enabled and we ensure all our staff are digitally certified and capable of delivering our services to clients,” said Anne Costello, Regional Director, South Asia Text100 APAC.  “Achieving this status from The Holmes Report goes a long way as we continue to follow our vision of shaping the most influential conversations in the digital age and beyond.”

     

  • The collaboration between Project Nanhi Kali & StrawberryFrog has witnessed the design and launch of some unique and successful digital campaigns like the 'A Girl Story', 'Girl Store' and the more recent 'Girl Epidemic'

    Nanhi Kali: Story of the triumph of communication

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    Project Nanhi Kali along with StrawberryFrog has set a fine example of what an evocative communication can do for a cause. When KC Mahindra Education Trust, a registered public charitable trust in India and Mahindra Foundation USA, both not-for-profit arms of the Mahindra Group commissioned StrawberryFrog NYC (known for being the world’s first cultural movement agency), it had an inkling of the path ahead. The task for the agency was to help create awareness and support for its Project Nanhi Kali globally, especially through digital and new media campaigns.

     

    For decades, Project Nanhi Kali relied on paid advertising to generate awareness and support. Seeing the immense potential of the world wide web and the recent social media boom, the management decided to focus all its resources towards the cause and completely reinvent its marketing strategy to harness the potential of the digital media and online space.

     

    The collaboration between Project Nanhi Kali & StrawberryFrog has witnessed the design and launch of some unique and successful digital campaigns like the ‘A Girl Story’ (http://www.agirlstory.org/), ‘Girl Store’ (http://www.the-girl-store.org/) and the more recent ‘Girl Epidemic’ (http://thegirlepidemic.com/).

     

    Through these innovative campaigns Nanhi Kali has not only been able to successfully create mass awareness globally and raise sponsorships amounting to $44,218 for the project as well as drive traffic to the official Nanhi Kali website and generate a buzz on online communities such as Facebook and Twitter.

     

    The StrawberryFrog-Project Nanhi Kali collaboration has witnessed the launch of some innovative and hard-hitting campaigns that have created a buzz online. StrawberryFrog has purposefully designed these campaigns to be provocative to create an initial shock and awe response to the campaigns, and thereby create awareness and break through the wall of indifference.

     

    The websites individually and collectively not only put the issue of uneducated girls being most vulnerable to exploitation upfront, but also provides the viewer with a solution to join the fight against it by sponsoring the education of young girls. The idea is to bring about a shift in the “culture of silence” in our societies and bring critical issues to the forefront and seek global support to bring about effective change.

     

    Sheetal Mehta, Executive Director Project Nanhi Kali, on the Girl Epidemic (the recently launched campaign) said: “The Girl Epidemic must be seen and shared, there’s never been anything like it.”

     

    She added, “The work for Nanhi Kali could convert those who think that creativity in advertising is on the wane. The sheer volume of first-rate award winning work being produced is impressive. From the simple brilliance of “A Girl Story” which is the world’s first donation-based online film series to another standout – The Girl Store an opportunity to bring e-commerce and creativity together in an innovative campaign and where you can buy a girl her life back before someone else takes it.

     

    The creative excellence, strategic smarts and work ethic of StrawberryFrog working on Nanhi Kali has helped spark something special for brand Nanhi Kali. Further, StrawberryFrog has always understood that a nonprofit has limited resources, and therefore the message being sent needs to be strong and powerful enough to start a movement. The momentum, being slowly built over the past four years, has created a body of work that is outstanding. We are seeing Nanhi Kali at its best.”

     

    Scott Goodson, Chairman of StrawberryFrog said: “Our goal with this work is to generate more money to educate girl children through Project Nanhi Kali. Period! And we wanted to do this with the greatest weapon we have at our disposal: creativity and innovation.”

     

    Here’s a look at what StrawberryFrog has created for Nanhi Kali Project

     

    The Girl Epidemic

    StrawberryFrog & Nanhi Kali recently launched the Girl Epidemic. It shows how girls in some parts of the world are treated as an infectious disease. It highlights the centuries-old absurdity that would value the life and potential of a young girl less than a boy, the result of which is the disappearance of girls, the selling of young girls as young as 8-years-old into sex slavery or marriage. The extremely powerful campaign brings home the message that this is wrong, that it must stop, and that education is the cure. In fact, it is the cure to solving the most important challenge we face as human beings. If you educate a girl, you educate a family, and as a result you reduce overpopulation, environmental impact, hunger, disease and a host of other world problems. The Girl Epidemic shows how educating a girl can save the world.

     

    The multiplatform Girl Epidemic campaign features an innovative e-commerce site. The main spark to ignite the Girl Epidemic is a major film production for YouTube and the Girl Epidemic ecommerce site where you can make donations. It is a unique trailer-style film that dramatizes an already disturbing societal norm. Young girls are often sold into sex slavery, child labor, and are frequently killed at birth because they are not of the desirable sex: male.

     

    The cure for The Girl Epidemic is education. Donating to www.TheGirlEpidemic.org can help change deep-seated social norms by allowing girls to receive an education, therefore transforming young girls to become valuable members of society – making them indispensable.

     

    The Girl Store

    In 2010 KCMET & StrawberryFrog together launched www.the-girl-store.org. ‘The Girl Store’ is an innovative website which allows the viewer to sponsor the supplies that allow an underprivileged girl in India to go to school and get an education. The Girl Store operates like an e-commerce site. The site asks visitors to a buy a girl her life back by donating school materials to underprivileged girls in India. Visitors can buy specific items, such as a backpack, workbooks, or school shoes for a girl pictured on the site.

     

    The core idea reiterated throughout the site is that the life of an underprivileged girl is not a condemned fait accompli. It is up to the viewers to change her destiny by ‘buying’ her life back – empowering her through education.  Funds raised through the site are used to provide holistic educational support (not only academic support through classes, but also material support in the form of a comprehensive material kit) to underprivileged girls in India. This website has raised $40,000 through online donations on the store, from 1115 donors globally till date providing educational support to 500 underprivileged girls in India.

     

    The site has received over 3 million hits till date, raising enough funds to send hundreds of girls to school, and has also received global media coverage. The ‘Girl Store’ has earned critical acclaim to its credit, including the ‘Bronze Pencil’ at the prestigious One Club Annual at One Show Awards held in New Yorkin 2011. It also received a ‘Bronze Cyber Lion’ at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival 2011.

     

    A Girl Story

    Launched in 2010, A Girl Story is a unique, donation-based film series that combines technology, film, and storytelling to shed light on the global challenge of educating young girls. The animated, emotional story follows the path of a young Indian girl named Tarla who wants to go to school to better her life. Whether she succeeds, however, is completely up to you, because Tarla’s story progresses only by audience donations that unlock new chapters within the film series. This website raised approximately $4,000 from 182 donors globally.

     

  • The sooner the fossil ministers of India accept that technology has outsmarted them, the better, writes Anil Thakraney

    Anil Thakraney: You can’t curb the Net, Mr Minister!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Do you know what is similar between terrorism and technology? It’s impossible to control either. You can do all you can to put curbs on them, but these folks will eventually find a way to outwit you. We have all heard about how a banned terror outfit in Pakistan simply changed its name and returned (literally) with a bang. The same thing is happening with the movie download sites that were recently blocked. The pirates have changed the site URLs, and are back in roaring action. I am not kidding about this… you can download the latest Bollywood film, Shanghai, which got released only this weekend! Such is the audacity of technology. Which is why this whole ‘site blocking’ business is a bloody sham.

     

    Likewise, you will recall, very recently, the portly Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Shri Kapil Sibal, was threatening to curb the social media. What triggered the mantri’s outrage was not that people where generally misusing freedom of expression, but that some sods had been busy illustrating funny cartoons of his bosses, Soniaji and Manmohanji. So, not law and order, but loyalty seems to be at the core of Sibal’s anger. Well, the debate immediately died down because as Sibal (and everyone else) knows: It’s just not possible to gag technology. It’s seamless and flows like a river across the world, continuously re-inventing itself.

     

    In a sense, I suppose it’s a battle between the old world and the new world. The old worlders, used to living a controlled existence, aren’t able to deal with the rapidly changing world. And the new world, armed with its technology weapon, is determined to smash the shackles the old world is desperate to impose. And this is one battle the oldies are bound to lose. Because technology has outsmarted them. And sooner the fossil ministers of India accept it, the better. Now there’s no going back.

     

    So deal with it, people! This is the new world order. Where videos, opinions, news, cartoons, etc, flow like a smooth stream, across the globe. And no dam will be able to control their movement. The various mantris only make fools out of themselves when they talk about curbs. They should instead spend all their energies monitoring terror activities. Though even there they will find the going very, very difficult.

     

    * * *

     

    PS: Interesting read on which book to rush to when you feel creatively burnt out, and want to throw in the towel. When the ideas aren’t coming. Some of the global ad industry’s best minds tell you which book inspired them and made them start firing on all cylinders all over again.

     

    Link: http://creativity-online.com/news/whats-the-best-book-on-creativity-youve-ever-read/234040

     

     

  • It is the only Indian agency awarded by leading international social media competition in 2012

    Hanmer MSL wins Bees Award for eBay.in

    By A Correspondent

     

    MSLGroup India’s Hanmer MSL has been awarded ‘Best Social Customer Relations Management’ at the third edition of the prestigious Bees Awards for its social media engagement campaign of eBay India.

     

    The Bees Awards is the first international social media competition honouring communication and marketing professionals and judged campaigns from agencies and brands from across 40 countries.

     

    The eBay winning campaign – eBay India Wins with Social CRM – received the award for its creative customer engagement strategy that identified female consumers as brand evangelists and developed rich, visual talking-points to create a viral effect and foster brand loyalty. The agency also established a strong customer relationship management mechanism that focused on seamless integration of the user-facing CRM process on Facebook with eBay’s back-end processes to create a real-time response set-up.

     

    The award win follows MSLGroup Asia’s finalist nomination at the Bees Awards in 2011, for MSL China’s work with IKEA in the ‘Best use of Microblogging Platform’ and MSL Singapore’s nomination in the ‘best relationship with blogs’ category for feminine care brand Whisper, “Happy it’s Here!” social media campaign.

     

    Commenting on the win, Jaideep Shergill, CEO, Hanmer MSL, said: “I’m extremely proud of our social media team for notching up an impressive win at the Bees Awards this year, and for being the only agency from Indiato do so. This award acknowledges our industry – leading, best-in-country social media engagement expertise and creativity. We are truly proud to have been honoured in a competition that brings together brands and agencies from the communications industry across the world.”

     

    MSLGroup’s MSL Nordics also won the “Best Use of Alternative Tools” category with Ariel Fashion Shoot, undertaken in partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi.

     

  • The site itself has been trying to tell advertisers that if they want scale, they'll have to shell out the hard cash for offerings like "sponsored stories", not to be confused with "sponsored ads"

    Can Facebook, the marketer’s online best friend ever become its ace salesman?

    By Delshad Irani & Ravi Balakrishnan

     

    In 2009, Facebook terminated the ‘Whopper Sacrifice’, Burger King’s social experiment cum marketing activation. Created by Crispin Porter Bogusky, the campaign’s premise was the more ties you sever the closer you get to your BK Whopper. The application as it turned out was a whopping success.

     

    Within a week 200,000 ‘friends’ were virtually burned out of existence from various lists. Facebook couldn’t handle the loss of those hard-earned friendships. Burger King, on the other hand, proved the point it set out to make – Americans sure do love their burgers. That same year, Swedish furniture giant Ikea spent practically nothing to create a campaign to promote its newest store.

     

    The agency Forsman & Bodenfors created a new Facebook account for the manager at the store in the city of Malmo and posted catalogue pictures of furnished rooms.

     

    Users could win furniture and other items in the photos if they beat their friends to the punch. All they needed to do was tag the pieces with their names first. Needless to say the prospect of first-to-tag-wins drove Facebookians crazy. The campaign was hassle-free, cheap and effective, just like the Scandinavian furniture it was advertising.

     

    Fast-forward to a few weeks ago. General Motors, the world’s fourth-largest advertiser and spender of $3.9 billion globally on advertising in 2010, haunted by questions related to effectiveness and ROI, pulled out its pretty penny, all $10 million of it, from Facebook’s paid-ad kitty just days before the social network’s stock went public.

     

    In addition to that sum, the automaker spends a reported $30 million on content creation for social media. These examples make Baccarat-crystal clear what we know already – you don’t have to pay big to make an impact via social media.

     

    In India, most marketers love talking about the worth of a campaign by the number of fans, or likes received on the most recent post. But even they are starting to ask a tricky question: what’s the real worth of their campaigns on Facebook? Worth more than a burger, eh?

     

    The site itself has been trying to tell advertisers that no longer will mere presence and innovative social media campaigns cut it. If they want scale, they’ll have to shell out the hard cash for offerings like “sponsored stories”, not to be confused with “sponsored ads”.

     

    For instance, products like Reach Generator guarantee that posts by a brand stand to be seen by 75 per cent of its fans every month or an estimated 50 per cent every week. Non users of the tool will have to settle for an average of only 16 per cent of fans viewing posts on a weekly basis. Not everyone’s buying though, believing that compelling content will win any day of the week.

     

    Anuradha Aggarwal, senior VP, brand communication and insights, Vodafone India said: “Since having high engagement scores is our goal, we focus on creating content on our Facebook page rather than on advertising. We focus on creating posts and apps to enable our 3.2 million fans to create conversations and experiences around the brand.”

     

    PepsiCo’s approach is to use a combination of both, posts/promotions on brand pages and display advertising. One of the cola maker’s prominent campaigns on the site was ‘Meet Messi in Miami’ where fans had to complete a series of tasks to win a chance to meet The Atomic Flea.

     

    During the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, Pepsi launched an online progamme as part of the ‘Change the Game’ campaign where fans could win a dream trip across the country for all India matches. The latter initiative was listed as one of the 19 best campaigns in the world by Facebook on their success stories blog, the only Indian effort to feature on the page.

     

    According to Homi Battiwalla, category director – colas, hydration and mango based beverages, PepsiCo India, it is too early to give a conclusive opinion on new advertising properties like sponsored stories and other offers. So the bottom line when it comes to the marketing on the social network is the game hasn’t quite changed. “The primary focus remains on organic content as we believe it results in better consumer connect,” said Mr Battiwalla.

     

    For automakers like Mahindra & Mahindra, Facebook is good for what it was born to do in the first place. Well, that and to spy on “old acquaintances”. According to Vivek Nayer, senior VP, marketing, automotive division, Mahindra & Mahindra: “Rather than looking at Facebook for advertising reach, we’ve leveraged it for what the platform is inherently good at; building communities. Today at 5 million, we are the largest automotive community on Facebook in India”

     

    In the case of Unilever, the company moved from almost accidentally stumbling on the power of the site – after noting a lot of action on its first Cornetto Luv Reels page long after the promotion was over – to it being a key pillar to the launch of Fruttare, its new range for the summer. Sapan Sharma, general manager – ice creams, Hindustan Unilever, said: “There’s an advertiser login where you get all the details. In the first 10 days of launch, 1.2 lakh fans signed up and there were 1.2 to 1.5 lakh conversations.”

     

    Arch-rival P&G is not lagging either. According to a company spokesperson: “In just less than two months, we have over 690,000 fans for our Thank You, Mom campaign. This makes it the largest, most engaged-with Thank You, Mom community globally.” For the launch of Olay’s premium skin care range, Olay Regenerist, a Facebook waiting list was created, with both fashion journalists and consumers signing up for an exclusive trial on the site; in less than three weeks, over 11,400 people had registered.

     

    But as the eight-year-old Facebook enters a new league as a listed company, it needs to, and rather urgently, scale its revenues to sync with its audience. Minute, often ineffective, right-rail ads aren’t exactly a juicy bone to dangle in front of existing and potential advertisers; thus the introduction of premium ads and better placement.

     

    According to Siddhart Rao, CEO of digital agency Webchutney, the sweet spot between organic and paid promotion is the one that will yield maximum benefit to brands looking to extract value from social media marketing platforms like Facebook. “One cannot work without the other,” he said.

     

    S Yesudas, managing director – Indian subcontinent, Vizeum, said: “I do not think all marketers know what to expect from the medium. The hurry to be on to the bandwagon gets them there. The fact that Facebook offers free advertising inventory for brands to test the medium gets overlooked. In my opinion, the medium can be successfully used to build relationships with the consumers.

     

    Targeting can be done based on profile information, relationship status, interest or based on certain words in profiles or status messages. But the truth is the brand communication will always compete with the updates, videos, etc from friends.”

     

    Indeed, it’s complicated; the relationship between advertisers and Facebook. Especially when one moves from the fluffy world of engagement to hard sales. Many retailers in the West like JC Penney, Gamestop and Gap pulled the shutters on their stores on Facebook this February.

     

    Chhaya Balachandran Aiyer – founder – MD, BC Web Wise said: “Ironically Wade

    Gerten, the founder of 8thBridge – the flower store that was responsible for the coinage of the term F-commerce as it was the first to open shop on Facebook for 1,800 Flowers – has admitted that sales never really materialised for their first or other F-outlets, adding that F-commerce deserved an F. Given the fact that F-commerce (Facebook commerce) has failed in the west for retailers, it appears that Facebook would be an engagement vehicle. Peer recommendation and product ratings are not integrated. Should it launch a brand intelligence tool which can be used by consumers – which exposes peer comments and recommendations that can be accessed by the FB community – then the ball game will change.”

     

    Venkat Mallik – president, Tribal DDB & Rapp India says Facebook’s ability to deliver sales impact has been a bit of a mixed bag: “There need to be more strong case studies demonstrating the sales or brand impact from the use of Facebook led engagement.”

     

    However while Facebook may not itself be a platform to sell it can impact sales according to some of its satisfied customers. Unilever’s Mr Sharma for instance believes there’s a definite co-relation between high levels of engagement and products sold.

     

    According to Carlton D’Silva, chief creative officer, Hungama Digital Media, “Opinions of family and friends matter when making purchase decisions decisions and Facebook activity will provide a lot of data to consumers, which can be leveraged in places where they make these decisions, causing a significant, if not direct impact on purchase behaviour.”

     

    “GM is slashing its advertising budgets by $ 2 billion, of this only $10 million or 0.5 per cent was on Facebook. They have also announced they won’t advertise on Super Bowl, either. Further, what should be noted is that GM has 8 million fans already. I am sure that they are going to continue with the engagement plans for acquired fans. It would be foolish to assume anything beyond, or assume Facebook has failed for GM, it would be just that advertising further is currently not the best bet in its media plan,” said Ms Aiyer

     

    The users of Facebook both on the agency and the marketer side each have their wishlist ready.

     

    “The analytics are available at a lag of 7 to 15 days; I’m sure it can come earlier. I’m sure there will be a time when we can talk to people from a specific city or market,” said Mr Sharma

     

    “They are hugely data rich. If in some way they get to using some of the data millions of people put in their hands on a minute to minute basis, sky will be the limit for them.This will surely come in with resistance from the users, unless they persuade them. They have to walk this path very carefully,” added Mr Yesudas.

     

    Most brands have a clear agenda from marketing spends on social media platforms like Facebook – greater outreach among target audiences through personalised interaction and engagement, leading to higher impact on conversions and sales.

     

    “It’s a perfectly reasonable expectation from a social communication platform with 900 million members,” said Mr Rao of Webchutney, “but whether brands invest enough thought, time, resources and action to engage audiences meaningfully is another question.” And one helluva question it is. Because for every whopper of a Scandinavian success story, there are at least a dozen marketing campaigns that have fallen flat on their face. So, ask not what you can do on Facebook but what Facebook can do for you.

     

    Source: The Economic Times
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