I have the bug! do you?

As you can make out from the headline, I have the bug and hence I paid a visit to the recently launched ‘Travel Bug Treatment Center’. I must say my experience was incredible! This treatment center is nothing but a marketing initiative  by Travel Channel. This is a part of their “I have the bug” campaign.

The site asks you a series of 12 questions and based on your answers displays your “Travel Bug Evaluation” – I was diagnosed as a Voyager and recommended treatment consisted of No Reservations, Dhani Tackles the Globe, Mark and Olly, Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches. I am already am a die-hard Travel Channel fan, hence I love the treatment… you may be wondering, how did they recommend particular shows? It’s simple… the 12 questions they as you are indirectly related to all the Travel Channel shows.

This is it. I am diagnosed to be a Voyager.

I love this! because…

• It is simple to interact
• Engaging enough for me to spend time on it
• Interesting content, makes me wanna talk about it
• Very in sync with the brand value
• Absolutely relevant

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.

Social Media Overload?

Interactive Sharpie e-cast Billboard

How this works: Interactive e-cast billboards have been scattered around cities, which allow people to experience the rush of creating their own graffiti. Choose some colors, write a message and Sharpie makes it possible for anyone to leave his permanent mark on the side of the bus stop or the public phone or anywhere else billboard adverting may be experienced.

This seems like a innovative idea, only concern or doubt I have about this… how permanent is my message on the billboard. Is it erased the moment any other person tries to do it? dunno… if that is the case, isn’t it temporary? may be I am little unclear about ‘the permanency of message’. Otherwise I feel its a nice idea & kudos to the creative minds working for Sharpie, the ultimate in permanent markers. (still I am wondering how permanent my message will be on the billboard)

eMarketer: Top 10 Predictions for 2009

The firm recently identified (via Marketing Charts) the following key trends for 2009:

1. The Internet is a Buyers’ Market: Marketers will continue to stretch their budgets by making use of cost-efficient online ad placements. Lower prices for most display ads and less competition for many search keywords will make online a buyers’ market.

2. Search Marketing Remains Recession-Resistant: While search marketing is not recession-proof, it is recession-resistant, with estimated spending growth in 2009 at 14.9%, to $12.3 billion. While search advertising will grow less in 2009 than in any previous year, its inherent strength means greater spending gains than for any other major form of advertising, whether online or traditional media.

(view chart of U.S. search advertising spending, 2007-2013)

3. Video Ad Spending Will Run Counter to Economic Trends: Growth will run counter to overall economic developments, rising by 45% in 2009 to reach $850 million.

(view chart of U.S. online video advertising spending, 2007-2013)

4. Social Network Shakeout: With U.S. ad revenue growth slowing, smaller and niche social networks will have a tough time gaining traction and several may close down or be acquired by larger players. Marketers that have built standalone social networks tied to their brands will either shutter them or migrate them to existing social network platforms where they can reach a broader audience.

5. New Revenue Streams for Social Networks: E-commerce will be a growing revenue stream for social network sites. Expect both MySpace and Facebook to enhance their self-serve advertising systems to allow consumers and businesses to buy and sell real-world goods and services.

6. E-Commerce Sales Growth From Existing Online Buyers: Online retail sales (excluding travel) will grow by only 4% in 2009 – the first full year to feel the impact of the economic crisis. Over the long term, online sales growth has been on a downward slope as the number of online buyers approaches saturation.

7. Seismic Shift in TV Ad Sales: U.S. TV ad spending will decline 4.2% to $66.9 billion in 2009. This precipitous drop in spending reflects not only expectations of a continued poor economy but a seismic shift in the way television advertising is bought and sold, eMarketer said.

8. More Newspaper Companies to Tank: Newspaper advertising will decline in 2009 more than any other medium. Industry-wide cutbacks will continue, and there will be some consolidation, while firms will be forced to undertake drastic measures to stay afloat.

9. User-Generated Content Aggregation: With so much user-generated media populating the web and mobile channels, content aggregation will become more important than ever. In 2009, expect to see the emergence of real-time aggregation tools that combine algorithmic approaches with human input. These aggregation tools will develop from the ground up, much like the content itself.

10. Multicultural Marketing Will Gain Intensity Online: Although white Americans make up about 70% of the U.S. internet population, more and more African Americans and Hispanics are going online through their PCs and mobile phones. Marketers will follow with language- and culture-specific messages.

MINI’s ad with Augmented Reality (AR) hits stands!

This super cool!!! New advertisement for MINI uses augmented reality (AR) technology to create a truly interactive media piece out of a 2-dimensional magazine ad.

Using AR tracking technology, as you hold the ad up to your computer’s webcam, you’ll see a 3-D model of a MINI Cabrio convertible that moves as you turn the sheet of paper around.

All you need is a copy of the ad, a webcam, and a web browser (sorry, Internet Explorer/ActiveX only) to view the 3-D AR effect.

The ad campaign was created by Munich, Germany agencies Buzzin Monkey and die agentour GmbH.

The ad appeared recently in three German automotive magazines: Auto, Motor und Sport, Werben & Verkaufen and Autobild, but…

See how it works right now you can print out a PDF of the ad and head on over to the MINI augmented reality web site to check it out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

[I am sure to try this as soon as I manage to take a print out of this ad! will post how it goes. If anyone one of you try this, I will be greatful if you can share your experience]

SPOILER ALERT: Just realized that Nissan Cube used AR technology before Mini (watch here)

Smart tray: Smart way to connect!

Now what on the earth should i call this invention to be! marketing indeed is becoming a creative canvas . A canvas of unimaginable opportunities enabled by convergence of technology.

A company that specializes in the design of high tech multimedia equipment for the food service industry has invented a Smart Tray can be used to deliver multimedia content to customers of food service restaurants, cafeterias, shopping malls, hospitals, military, etc.. The tray is configured to the shape of a regular food service carrying tray, albeit with an embedded multimedia display in the bottom-left corner. Multimedia content may include video, still images, text or computer instructions, or interactive content such as puzzles, games or quizzes related to advertising partners or other nearby locations. In addition, Mediox Smart Tray can be used to distribute multimedia content such as mobile phone ring tones and wallpaper, digital music, video clips, electronic books, computer and cell phone software, and games etc. via Bluetooth or WiFi interface.

The unique concept developed by Mediox effectively allows restaurant operators to move the multimedia content to each individual client’s tray. Placing the multimedia content in the hands of each client permits user-based feedback through interactive features, enabling one-to-one target marketing. Perhaps most importantly, it also has the potential to turn the tray in to a revenue generating tool!