Internet is good!

Till two weeks back I’ve been arguing with myself about internet. A part of me felt, internet is awesome & other part felt, it is so intrusive & messed up my real life. I spend more than half of my day on internet. Become more responsive to emails or tweets than anything else. Newspapers sounds like a concept of 60′s and have more online friends than I have in real life. That’s my typical relationship with internet. My girl friends hates it, coz I am still browsing internet while talking to her. It’s so bad that iPhone or internet on my mobile will break the relationship. That sucks, but that’s reality

This Spring-Break I had to visit a my friends in Cleveland, Ohio. To most of my friends, it was a unusual Spring-Break destination. To me it was fun to be with my old friends! But this lasted only till I reached there. I realized that my friends had moved in to a new apartment has no access to internet and it was a place where ATT had very poor reception. So, to my surprise… I was disconnected to most of the world – couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I had no choice, but to read newspaper – watch boring television (I did not have the leisure to select the show I wanted to watch, at my convenience – as we can do it internet). I was again reading all the newspapers lying in front of me. Days suddenly became longer & started to realize how peaceful my mind has become without the information overload I was pushing into my brain. It was great talking to my friends and their families, suddenly felt I was enjoying this back in time. It was awesome! being disconnected to internet filled my heart with joy and felt  rejuvenated to some extent. It is this spring break I realized, life is beautiful – in real world too!

But, don’t get me wrong. I love internet and have understood the role it plays in my life. During the break, more than the internet… I missed being disconnected to awesome amount of information and new things I was learning. It is this internet that helps me learn about things that I would have never been exposed to. Following are 25 reasons why I still love internet

1. Quick & easy saves me time to process information

2. Postal service is way too slow for today, hence email works!

3. Twitter or live feed is even better.

4. To talk is boring, interacting is so much fun

5. Encyclopedia will be too heavy for me to carry around wit me, I am happy to have Google / Wikipedia … and innumerable other resources

6. In the business of marketing communications, focus group is a very important tool to generate insights – to me internet opens the door for 24hour long continuous focus group

7. Just a “hey, what’s up?” on a friend’s profile is good enough to be in touch

8. No one can beat the on-line discounts & promotions

9. Twitter brings me closer to so many wonderful people & information to empower my knowledge! I love Twitter, you should give it a try.

10. I can see & talk to my parents & loved ones through internet, anytime and how much ever I want to. By the way, at no extra cost!

11. Internet entertains me through on-line TV shows, movies, songs, social networking & almost real-time news

12. I am not a writer nor a journalist. Internet makes me want to express, hence this blog. Still not a writer, but at least a blogger

13. Internet is eco-friendly & so am I.

14. Internet has opened this wonderful digital world for me to explore, get inspired and enhance my point of view.

15. Internet gives me spreadability.

16. I have the power to make change, in quick & easy manner. (only thing is I have to be relevant and do it in a awesome manner that makes it contagious for people to talk about).

17. Internet was instrumental in making Barack Obama what he is today.

18. Thanks to internet I am still talking to most of my friends from my high school.

19. Internet has changed the world of advertising & brand management, now brands want to come closer to consumers! [probably this will be my next post ]

20. Wonderful internet has also been a huge job generator. I am happy to see millions of people making money only through internet.

21. This should have been the first point, but doesn’t matter… internet has erased boundaries. You have one real world divided into maximum pieces possible. And you have digital world, wherein people with similar interests are out to help  & share knowledge with each other.

22. Thanks again to internet, it has given rise to social media to a extent that it now has the power to make social change!

23. I keep coming back to advertising & marketing… I am sorry, but I love it! internet has made communicating with consumers so much fun! All those digital billboards, user-generated contents, interactive & engaging ads, digital platforms like Nike+ it has become so much fun! Sincerely feel, internet has spiced up the advertising!

24. Makes me feel like god, am connected to each and everything happening around the world, gives me opportunity to participate in anything and everything I choose to participate in, opened up a world with limitless opportunities.

25. The best thing about internet, it is so interconnected with the real life that most of the things you do affects your real life.

I have now learned to balance my real life with the digital… it took me a trip to friends house & be disconnected to internet compeletely. I am glad I realized this. I hope you too realize this in some way appropriate to you.

To life! (online & offline both)

Brands will fail in Social Media, until…

the brand manager…

1. thinks before entering the social media wagon: For god’s sake, don’t enter the social media wagon because everyone is on social media. Social media demands huge investment of resources, it’s not only about creating a platform & connecting with consumers.  A thorough social media strategy that adds value to the existing brand behavior has to be crafted. Content is an integral part of your social media success, if it’s not relevant or lacks creative brilliance it will not work.

2. stops viewing social media as just another marketing tool: Social media is a lifestyle. Consider a marketing tool & your brand is due for a toss! Social media is a platform for interaction & collaboration. It is not meant to generate sales, but to develop communities, create content & developing relationships.

3. have some patience: Think long-term when you think about social media. Building a relationship is never a quick and easy solution. A brand should resist the ‘one-night stand approach’ with the consumers, look forward to building a valuable & long-lasting relationship. To build a community  or get people actively involved takes time. Don’t see social media as a advertising campaign, it’s a long term approach.

4. have a dedicated staff responsible for social media: Where does social media fit in? Web Development, Content Generation, PR, Marketing, Communications? Unless you are sure & have a clearly defined objectives & role for your employee responsible to handle social media, you will fail.  There should be a dedicated team that is held accountable for delivering results as per the the brand’s social media strategy.

5. starts listening to consumers: Consumers are the biggest source of information. You stop interacting with them & you are gone is 60 secs (not literally). But, listening to consumers becomes all the more important in times like this…because a dissatisfied consumer can make or break brand’s image. Social media is very instrumental in making the brand behavior absolutely transparent. Hence a 24X7 vigil on consumers is the key to survival.

Inspite of doing everything properly, a brand can still fail in social media…

because usage and interaction in social media is totally dependent on the user. Unlike advertising, social media is a pull medium. Social Media Metric are also very new & still to prove their reliability. Also the criteria for measurement is also very different. Advertising is measured in terms of  page views, while social media is measured in terms of interactions, i.e. no. of friends, no. of comments, quality of content, etc. Interpreting these measures & analyzing effectives is difficult at this point of time.

… atleast we can avoid some blunders.

Welcome to the Participation Era.

As I watch numerous commercials, online or otherwise… I ask myself, “will I buy this brand because of this advertisement?” my answer is “No, not at all”. I believe advertising is mere a tool to create awareness or in some cases, generate interest about a particular brand of product or service.

As we entered the digital age, brands are not solely build by messaging or advertising, but by their behavior with the consumers. The most important thing today is not about what brand says, but it’s about ‘what brand does’ & how consistently it does. For a brand manager, integrating the brand with the product benefits is not enough… I’d say, it will be a recipe of disaster.

A brand manager has to think about the right mixture of integration between Brand-Product-Consumer.

Of all the above mentioned components of integration, ‘Consumer’ is the most important component. A brand has to seek ways to connect with the people and start a conversation, a conversation that is engaging & relevant enough for people to share among their communities.  Create a platform for participation, co-create with your consumers. I strongly feel that, a consumer has to be seen as a co-owner &  the key to success is to listen to the consumers & act accordingly.

First brand that comes to my mind is Starbucks! It’s a perfect example of a a brand adapting to the new digital revolution. The brand launched MyStarbucksIdea.com, an online platform for suggestion and virtual community to involve the brand followers. Many initiatives that Starbucks has launched have come from consumer’s mind. When a brand actually acts on consumer’s preference, a sense of belonging is created in the minds of consumer & this can be on of the core things that will turn a consumer into an advocate.

The Participation Era has arrived & the only way to survive  is to embrace ‘consumer’ as an integral part of marketing process. This is the era that demands ‘actions’ more than ‘advertising’  & ‘ brand experience’ more than just ‘product features’. The question we have to ask ourself is, “am I ready for the Participation Era?”

Drink Tap Water!

Recently came across an article in Business Week titled, “Bottled Waters Lose Their Effervescence” it was great reading that article because just a month ago, I along with a team of talented Brandcenter students had worked on a brand campaign for SIGG Water Bottle. Here’s the presentation to induce people to drink tap water & make SIGG a stylish environmental commitment…

Brand Campaign for SIGG Water Bottle

Will be great to have your feedback on this.

Good Thinking: Hyundai breeds creativity in adversity

Adversity breeds Creativity - We are at our creative best in adverse situations.

In adverse situations we are under pressure to change something in our lives that is not working. We are forced to look at ways in which we can overcome adversity. Adversity puts a strong demand on us to innovate for survival. It forces us to be different than what we have been being. Some of the most successful people and businesses that the world has seen have grown out of adversity.

Everyone by now is well aware of the adverse situations auto makers are in… To come out of this adversity, Hyundai recently launched “Hyundai Assurance Program”

The car-maker allows you to return you vehicle & allows you to walk away from your loan or lease without having to worry about any damage to your credit history. Assurance program only applies to customers stricken by misfortune outside of their control, such as losing their job, becoming disabled or losing their drivers license for medical reasons.

Customers must also have made at least two payments on the car already. In addition, Hyundai will only refund the depreciation on the returned car up to $7,500 and the program is complementary for the first 12 months of leasing or financing.

Hyundai said, the program is aimed at consumers too nervous to spring for a new car in the difficult economy. The slump in consumer confidence has been one of the biggest factors behind the collapse in new vehicle sales in 2008. In a prepared statement, ccting president & chief executive of Hyundai North America said that “We understand consumers’ hesitance to commit to large purchases in today’s economic environment,” “Today we’re extending … peace of mind to cover consumers’ employment status and personal finances.”

In this uncertain time, Hyundai’s Assurance Program seems to be very assuring for the uncertain buyers…

New Pepsi logo & the logos of Web 2.0

My first encountered with Pepsi’s new logo design intrigued me enough to fetch for more information on reason behind choosing this particular typeface. When it comes to typography, I trust fontfeed… it’s a resourceful site dedicated to typography. that’s when I came across a post on ‘Logos of Web 2.0′. Thanks to my New Year’s Resolution (I only decided it today) – Not to Procrastinate, here I am sharing this great classification of  logos for web 2.0 (I am only three months late, I guess)

For all you folks intrigued by this, I would recommend you read this article.

As far as Pepsi’s new logo; I would say its a perfect gamble by the brand. (I guess, the right thing to do at this point of time) Its been a rocky year for the brand, with declining soft drink sales & almost 30% drop in share price… what you need is some drastic measures.

I like the new logo, it’s a very expressive & youthful logo. It connects very well with the target audience Pepsi seeks to connect with. Here is a quote from Frank Cooper, Pepsi’s VP-Portfolio Brands.

“We felt like, as we move out of this traditional mass marketing and mass distribution era into today’s culture, there’s an opportunity to bring humanity back, both in terms of the design but also in the way we engage consumers …”

Pepsi’s new brand identity

Couldn’t resist posting about Pepsi’s New Identity till tomorrow so here it is some more information & renderings of the new bottles and cans I stumbled on. The new logo is Pepsi’s 11th in its 110-year history. Five logos have been introduced in the past 21 years, with the last update in 2002.

The new logo is a white band in the middle of Pepsi’s circle that loosely forms a series of smiles: A smile will characterize brand Pepsi, while a grin is used for Diet Pepsi and a laugh is used for Pepsi Max.

PEPSI: New Identity, New Campaign on New Year Eve

Tomorrow is going to be my ‘Blog Pepsi Day’…. but, just wanted to leave you with this:

The new $1 million  Pepsi logo, designed by the Arnell Group, looks suspiciously like an old, long-abandoned Diet Pepsi logo, says Author Jim Edwards of BNET Advertising Insights