Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing never made sense to me initially. The term Social has always conjured up images of socialism/do more for others,etc etc.

The next I knew, it was The Term being tweeted the most around, even by my closest friends abroad. My initial reaction: What a waste of time!!! Those were the days in which I had active accounts on Facebook,Linkedin and even a twitter account (hence, the tweets), and had come to the stage where in all of them, at least to me, were a total and utter waste of time.

And then a few experiences, few pieces of information about people/events hit me through this medium. And I was hooked!!

So today, Social Media has started to finally make sense to me, and am amazed at The Power of the various tools in helping a product/brand/person connect and engage with the target audience. As a marketer, the opportunities represented by this media are intimidating and exciting in the same breath. The chance to reach across directly, to understand and subsequently engage is breathtaking literally.

Since I am part of the largest Mobile operator in India, I have been fortunate to actually see the impact, small though it is, first hand. The jump in sales of GPRS enabled handsets, the craze for smart phones and the even bigger hype around 3G services just makes the imminent impact of Social Media all the more exciting for marketers.

Mobile Companies have been instrumental in getting to the masses and helping in attaining mass for the social media penetration (check out the basic handsets also offering facebook/twitter), but the connection/engagement pieces are still in their nascent stages. We are still in the stage where in we push links across and love the number of hits we get. The community building, the engagement, specifically with the majority still leaves gaps.

But while there are gaps, there are certain companies who have actually utilised this quite effectively.

I came across a few amazing articles on the impact of social media marketing which I am sharing here. Starbucks and the 4 lessons from their social media efforts are worth replicating (specifically the point of starting,albeit in a small manner). Then we have the exceptional and popular piece on the Egypt/Tunisia revolutions, and the way it is almost akin to a brand/product launch. Closer back home, one should check out the Dominos Community (an amazing 4,00,000 people like/follow this) on facebook, to actually see how community building can actually expand the reach of a business. Even the airtel twitter page has shown immense growth with 6,500 followers.

So, can Social Media marketing actually achieve the scale and penetration and become a preferred way for marketers in India??

I strongly believe so.

There are quite a few learnings yet to be assimilated, but as the Starbucks example states, one has to begin, even with small steps.

The best part is that there is virtually an information overload on the Internet for an organization to kick off the engagement. Quoting the Starbucks example again, scale engagement is the only way and that is one thing we are great at...numbers (population/math, you name it!)

So, here's to Social media marketing, and pardon me for incessantly repeating myself, but boy, am i hooked!!!

GOLD GOLD GOLD

WE FINALLY DID IT!!!

Thank you Mr. Bindra!

India Redux: The first objective achieved!

Well, a few weeks back I had posted the India Redux post.

And guess what? The first bullet point has been achieved. Ramayana is back on TV. Mahabharata is coming back. And Star One even shows the old Sword of Tipu Sultan. Now only, if they were on prime time once more.

Hope that the next few points of the post materialise soon as well.

The barber,A murder mystery तमाशा and Subhash Ghai's छठी औलाद!

As usual, I have been contemplating about getting back to blogging. As usual, there were again the umpteen number of ideas, topics, issues on which I felt I should express my views. As usual, I could not structure my thoughts and translate them into words.

Unusually, I thought of penning all of them together in a single post.

First thought: The barber : Maybe an important service marketing lesson

I went to the barber shop today and I had a thoroughly enjoyable time while I was there. I had the usual hair cut and a good hair massage. Hardly interesting, one would say! Well, the reason I had a great time was because while the services were being rendered, there were old Mohamed Rafi songs playing in the background. Just listening to those songs made me nostalgic. During my childhood, my dad used to take me for the usual hair cut (or the usual hair massage) and in those barber shops of Naraina Vihar, Somajiguda or Secunderabad Club, there used to be the old Rafi songs (in my mind, playing out over an old music system). I never appreciated them, for, for me, they were songs for the old. Well, today when I heard them again, I could actually reflect on the subtlety and the relaxing nature of the songs. It made one relax. Don't ask me the reason or the logic behind it, but it just made me relax, and in a way let go.

A possible lesson which I had harped upon in the title was that maybe while rendering a service, we could use tools such as music or the surrounding environment to make one remember the old, or as many say, the golden days of their youth, or even times gone by, the past. Maybe, the customer would relax in such a "familiar" environment. And maybe, this could make him not only a repeat customer, but also a well spending one.

Certainly a thought to ponder over!

Second Thought: A murder mystery तमाशा : Ban the inconsiderate channels?

For the last 35 days, news has been dominated by a sordid murder mystery, or as it is called by some the double Noida Murder case. Time and again, news channels have revelled in revealing the "breaking news", or like today, being the first channel to make a "खुलासा". There has been a trial by media, and every household today, or at least the ones who watch this news day in and day out, talk about the aggrieved family or the victims in the most perverse ways. Every family imagines, discusses what might have happened, and who may have been responsible. And all this is fuelled by the so called आवाज़ of the जनता, the news channels. Some have framed such exquisite stories that it has become difficult for many to separate the truth from the lies.

I have only one thing to say. Bring the matter to a swift conclusion, and let the family grieve or be crucified for the crime committed. At the same time, let there be some civility. The media can not and should not conduct a public trial. News should be reported, not sensationalised or like many do not made into " breaking news" (Maybe watching " Good Night & Good Luck" should be made mandatory for everyone to understand what I mean here!).

The thought to ponder over here is: Can we as viewers, and hence as consumers of these channels, do something to enforce some sense of civility?

Third Thought: The Happening: What happened?

A much hyped up movie called "The Happening" released a few days back. With a superb concept of nature hitting back at the humans, the movie could have been a great one. It could have maybe made us aware of what we may be doing to the nature all around us. Having an Indian production house, maybe it could have made a deeper impact upon our own society. But it never did.

Why?

Because the movie never " happened".

The only possible interest left for many, like my brother , by half time, was how Subhash Ghai's छठी औलाद , the director of the movie, Mr. Shyamalan, would make his entry.

Alas, we were all disappointed once more. He too, never, "Happened".

The thought to ponder: Why was the movie made? What " Happened" Mr. Shyamalan?

I just dump these three random thoughts here. Not that many will read it, but at least I made the effort to pen down my thoughts. Who knows, there may be some pattern in my viewpoints? For the reader, do tell me if you detect the pattern!

The first lesson: Know your Target Group

Sometimes there are instances which one is reminded of suddenly out of the blue. More than often it usually is about something embarrassing, or something which you were never able to figure out at that time.

A few years back, just before I was going to join IMT, I had the opportunity to head over to Hyderabad for a school re-union. While there, I met a few old teachers, some people whom I really look up to even now. Well, I was all gung-ho about my work experience, and after a few pleasantries were exchanged, I launched into the work which I had done for the past few months. Very soon, I had lost them, and their interest was evidently somewhere else. At that time, I never could figure out why my teachers would not be interested in my work. I was there, showing off my new found presentation making skills, and business acumen, but no one seemed to be interested.

Cut to a few days back, and I had accompanied my mom to a bank nearby. Now this bank has the best policies which they offer to their customer base. And evidently, I thought that with such rates, I could also start banking at the same bank. But a thing which I was not able to figure out was why there were hardly any customers at the bank. Well, I soon found out the reason why.

These two experiences actually made me realise one of the most fundamental lessons learnt at B - School, and the one which needs to be absorbed by every professional --- Know thy Customer; or in B school parlance, Know the Target Group.

While at the bank, the manager and the employees servicing the client, were not aware of the background of the customer, my mom in this case. They had basically never bothered to know the potential of my mom in terms of financial worth. Hence, this led to an ordinary, rather a dismal customer service, and that alienated not only her, but a future customer as well. We had learned about a concept called the Moment of truth at B-school, and trust me, the principle became much more clearer to me that day.

On a similar note, at my school, I had not really understood that for every message communicated there has to be a target group. The group of teachers to whom I was talking about the latest Pre-Sales solutions in the market, was evidently not the right group. And the fault was clearly mine. I should have understood what my audience reacted to, what was their need, and then talked about the appropriate things.

Hence, in both the circumstances, knowing one's target group, or customer, would have actually helped in meaningful dialogue, where everyone would have been in a win-win situation.

I intend to put into practice this lesson ASAP, and I hope that these lessons and many more like these make me learn further.

India Redux

These are some of the things I miss the most from my childhood. I do believe that the re-introduction of some of these would do wonders to our society.

• We need serials like Mahabharata, Ramayana or even historical pieces like Sword of Tipu Sultan back on the television in place of serials like Sujata or (wait till you read this) Waqt batayaga kaun apna kaun paraya...:)
• We need socialistic messages like "एक चिडिया, अनेक चिडिया" back on the television which will ensure that we resist from becoming racist, and selfish.
• We need to ensure that Moral Science is taught as a subject till at least class 5th.
• We need to have more renditions of songs like " मिले सुर मेरा तुम्हारा" to ensure that we have the utmost pride in our country
• We should have the national anthem playing more often, and people should respect it.

Just some things which I feel will make our lives better...

Shaurya: What's that???

A Few Good Men is one of my favorite movies, so obviously a movie which a rip-off or an "inspired" movie would make me highly critical.

At the same time, I expected a lot from this movie. It had a great & intelligent cast, and I finally thought we would see a movie which would highlight one of our country's top national institutions -- the Indian Army. Needless to say, I was very very disappointed with the end result. I would not like to discuss the movie but would rather point out the two issues I felt strongly about.

The first and foremost issue I had was the inability of the movie to showcase the Indian Army and its internal workings properly. If one follows most of the Hollywood movies, one would realise that even with movies dealing with negatives implications concerning certain practices in the defence services, what emerges is that the institution is supreme, and it is the processes, rules and regulation of the institution which come out as supreme. Truth prevails, but not at the cost of an institution. These movies highlight not only their defense services, but all Institutions, like those of their President, Universities, and the likes as being supreme and as the bearers of the best ideals. Somehow this is what a lot of our movies have lacked in showing over the years.

Many would argue that artistic expression does reflect the reality around us. But can our creative expression also not express the ideals that could and in fact should exist within our society? Can we not have our movies reflecting not only the reality but also try to create an aspiration for the viewer, an aspiration to be a part of the best institutions, the best practices to look up to? Instead, we have slipped into this mentality of making fun of our institutions. Ridicule them, lampoon them, but never make them seem to be bearers of the right values. Fault, it is, which we must find everywhere. Reflection of modern times?? Or, a feeling of pessimism. Maybe, an Elsworth Toohey would be at his best here.

One could look upon my suggestions as too idealistic; But if we do not showcase these institutions to our people, never will they respect it; more so, never will people come forward and volunteer to be a part of our national institutions. Coming back to the movie, what infuriated me was that the subject of the film was dealt with such immaturity. The movie had the unique opportunity of showcasing our defence services to the young people, as an institution where you had varying responsibilities; just not shooting and killing the enemy, but also other career opportunities ,like law. But that fact was conveniently forgotten. Technically inefficient in handling of the main premise of the movie, which was the court case ( did I mention A Few Good Men anywhere!), we again lost an opportunity of showcasing how our Army was equipped to weed out the fanatics within the system. Instead, we are subjected to useless plots, and a court case which is won more by a "tamasha" rather an logical thinking.

The second issue with the movie is an issue which almost every post 9/11 movie likes dealing in. Delving once again into the perception of Muslims being terrorists, the feeling of innovative and creative thinking seems to have gone away from our "artistes". Give me a break guys, but has this issue not been done to death already. I mean, why do we need to keep reminding ourselves that we have to combat the above said perception? I think a lot of people have realised that the perception is false, so lets just move on with our lives. Why do we need to get religion into everything? Is it only religion which can make one so passionate that one borders on fanaticism? We,as a society, need to honestly evaluate this belief, which somehow gets perpetuated in every movie these days.

Hence, simply put, lets build the reputation of our national institutions, for at the end of the day that is our identity, and for god's sake, lets move out of the irrelevant posturing which we as a society have come to believe expresses our inner self.

And finally, let us have some original work, and not "inspired" work, which even manages a 3 star rating in The Times of India. HA HA HA!!!

जोधा Akbar

It has been only 5 days since Jodha Akbar was released and I have seen it already twice. The movie is certainly a good movie, though as has been said elsewhere by many critics, a tad too long.

A major reason for me seeing the movie for a second time were quite a few. Not only am I a fan of Hrithik Roshan, but I wanted to see the movie again for the apparent hurt it has caused the Rajput clan and as claimed by some Hindu Sentiments. Besides this, I wanted to see exactly why people had gone ga-ga over the battle sequences, which I had found mediocre in execution initially.



Well, Hrithik Roshan did impress me the second time around as well। The actor is one of the few actors today who emotes and communicates more through his eyes, than his actions। I remember my Grandmother saying that this fact was the big difference in the actors of the yesteryear, such as Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, etc and the actors present today। Well, I think Mr. Roshan's acting skills would find approval from my Grandmother as well. He has quite nicely brought out a younger and temperamental side to Akbar, which would be quite a huge differentiation from the Akbar we have all read in history books.

Which clearly brings me to my second objective of seeing the movie again. Hurt Rajput sentiments is what we have all heard about for the past few weeks. Apparently, Jodha was the name of the daughter in law of Akbar. Hence, this distortion of fact by the director had hurt Rajput sentiments. Well, the director did say so in the opening slides of the film, about the liberty he had taken in choosing Jodha as the name, while history had recorded the name of Akbar's wife by many other names. His explanation ( and certainly not apology, as is being construed by some) was that the most famous and common name he had come across was Jodha, and hence used it. I totally agree with him on this point. Now, we have all studied the Mughals when we were in primary school, and our parents have always told us stories about the mughals, since they have had such a major impact on the history and culture of our country. Jodha was indeed the name we all read in our books, and was also the name we were always told of by our parents. So I fail to understand how the critics of the name have suddenly realised that, wait a minute, Jodha was the daughter in law and not the wife! I would put it down to some people/organization unnecessarily trying to attract attention. On the other hand, throughout the film, the Emperor Akbar praises Rajputs to no end. Describing the Rajputs as the bravest clan he has seen, I am sure, Akbar ( read Director) meant all the dis-respect he could show towards the Rajput sentiment. In a nutshell, there is no way this movie has dis-respected the Rajputs.

Also, some organizations claim that the movie has dis-respected and hurt Hindu sentiments. Again, where has it done so??? The Mughal emperor is shown taking off his shoes before entering temples; The Hindu traditions are observed during the wedding; all in all there has been no scene where Hindu sentiments could have been hurt. So my friends, another publicity stunt is what I would conclude.

Talking of stunts, the action sequences which I found mediocre initially, were really anything but. Though people will compare it to the Troys and the Gladiators, what must be appreciated is the scale on which certain sequences have been shot. The opening battle scenes are superb, but do contain a few bad shots, basically due to inattention to the extras fighting lamely. Besides that, the climax/concluding fight between Akbar and his Brother in law, or the sword fight between the emperor and his queen are superbly shot and technically quite sound, from my limited knowledge of such sequences.

Hence, I would recommend this movie to all movie-buffs, but saying that would also warn everyone that this is not a lesson in History. It is a romantic movie, which explores the relationship of the Emperor and his Queen. Try appreciating the differences in the cultures of the Mughals and the Rajputs and what Jodha & Akbar had to adjust to, and I am sure you will appreciate the movie much more.

Like Akbar keeps saying , " हुकुम की तामील हो ".

A new start