Politics and Marketing make a heady mix and the recent primaries in the US have taken political marketing to a whole new level
We in India are well aware of the political debacle that was the India shinning campaign, but what no one noticed was the succcess of the congress party campaign - congress ka saath, aam aadmi ka saath (Loosely translated: Congress Party's Hand is holding that of the common man) It was successful in striking a chord with the people on issues like riots, price rise etc. Indian Politics is ofcourse still taking baby steps towards being marketing savvy. Leaving print or TV ads, our parties haven't embraced the net like their countreparts in the US. Ofcourse this strategy does make sense when you consider that the bulk of the population lives in rural areas and hardly has access to electricity let alone the internet, but...but... a sizeable urban population has access to the net and they get their information at their finger tips. I feel it makes tonnes of sense in investing in online marketing campaigns for our parties too.
The Obama campaign in particular has re-defined campaign funding and marketing in the US. This Washington Post Article explores the obama online campaign and the findings are mind boggling. Obama through internet ads has succeeded in building a network of $1 million donors!! this in stark contrast to the traditional route of having a small but wealthy pocket of donors. Obama through such tactics managed to raise $91 million in just 2 months thanks largely to this humongous group of small donors. Obama camapign also spent their money wisely - they out spent the clinton campaign by ten times on their online marketing budget.
The online campaign is also interesting in itself, according to the article. The Obama ads didn't take one directly to the donate page but focused on building an online relationship instead. People who signed up with their email Ids first got a welcome message, information about policies, information on the various ways one could volunteer and after building a rapport, only then was one asked to donate. I find this extremely fascinating. This is new age marketing. We'd call this lead nurturing only this is being applied to a political campaign
There have been other instances of the obama campaign being net savvy. A social networking group called ObamaCycle started by an enthisiastic obama supporter, actually ensured that Obama Campaign supplies were reused not wasted. This supplemented a situation where people who ran short of campaign supplies in states which were going to vote in the primaries could communicate whith people in states that had already voted and hence could re-use their campaign supplies!!
The obama campaign has been Web2.0 savvy with widgets and buttons on facebook and myspace etc.
I guess this tactic fits the american mileu but I strongly feel that our parties could easily take a leaf from obama's campaign book and make our political system more interactive, more participatory and more fun
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Internet and E-Commerce in India
Being the data junkie that I am, I'm extremely thrilled with the Internet and Mobile Association of India's (IAMAI) reports on the state of Internet in india. It is an exteemely useful website filled with reports and events on the internet and mobile scene in India
As an e-marketer it is important to learn how the internet penetration is unfolding in India. You all all will be happy to know that the internet is growing at a rate of 40%. The internet break up as per the I-Cube 2007: Internet in India report is as follows:
The report also gives more facts and figures for internet penetration in Non metros and the pattern of internet usage.
The Ecommerce report too is pretty fascinating, considering companies in India are struggling to get their E-commerce acts together due to strict funds transfer policy in India. It offers a great insight on industry size, existing barriers for further growth and improvements needed.
Detailed de-brief once i analyze these reports. In the meanwhile, trip on it here
As an e-marketer it is important to learn how the internet penetration is unfolding in India. You all all will be happy to know that the internet is growing at a rate of 40%. The internet break up as per the I-Cube 2007: Internet in India report is as follows:
The report also gives more facts and figures for internet penetration in Non metros and the pattern of internet usage.
The Ecommerce report too is pretty fascinating, considering companies in India are struggling to get their E-commerce acts together due to strict funds transfer policy in India. It offers a great insight on industry size, existing barriers for further growth and improvements needed.
Detailed de-brief once i analyze these reports. In the meanwhile, trip on it here
Friday, May 23, 2008
Summer Trainee and the livin ain't easy
(I never thought, I'd twist a Billie Holiday song like that but what do you know...)
Come summer and apart from blistering high temperatures here in Pune, we also get a swarm load of MBA summer trainees or interns. I have 2 this summer interns this year and its the 2nd time that I'm leading interns, but I'm still befuddled by what exactly the purpose is of these internships.
a) is it to learn & imbibe
b) Is it just so that one can submit a document to the college, get marks and be done with it?
It should be the first but as the internship proceeds, generally it becomes about the latter. I think its because of the Indian MBA system. What can one expect out of freshers who are admitted in to MBA courses? They have never worked until then, they don't know how professional organizations function and here they are, thrown in to the middle of what seems like a huge conundrum and no wonder most of them just want to get done.
I really do feel sorry for them. It is alien and sometimes inhospitable and I would sympathize but what does make me angry is that sometimes they don't really care about the internship at all. Because it's all internally evaluated, the outcome is a formality so why bother about this sham at all? I strongly feel colleges should orient freshers about working in organizations and why internships are important.
The most important reason as to why an internship is crucial, is because, it gives you a chance to apply one's business education in the real world and sort of tune in both. Reading about a concept is completely different from implementing it. There are a no of variables that need to be factored in during implementation.
The attitude towards internships is different in people who have worked before because obviously, they've been there etc. But these people view the internship more as an actual simulation of what they certainly hope to do after passing out. The difference, these guys know what they want, the freshers - have no clue and its all one big large experiment.
Another important aspect that is not stressed enough to interns is the reason why the industry is hiring them in the first place. Yes, we get cheap labour for 2 months but one is also spending a considerable time monitoring and guiding them. We take them in, hoping they have fresh perspectives and new ideas on tackling some standard industry issues. We want them to bring in their MBA education and implement best practises or latest trends in their projects.
This dialogue is not happening unfortunately. In India, its still a one way process and I hope the Indian MBA system changes and starts admitting more experienced folks.
Come summer and apart from blistering high temperatures here in Pune, we also get a swarm load of MBA summer trainees or interns. I have 2 this summer interns this year and its the 2nd time that I'm leading interns, but I'm still befuddled by what exactly the purpose is of these internships.
a) is it to learn & imbibe
b) Is it just so that one can submit a document to the college, get marks and be done with it?
It should be the first but as the internship proceeds, generally it becomes about the latter. I think its because of the Indian MBA system. What can one expect out of freshers who are admitted in to MBA courses? They have never worked until then, they don't know how professional organizations function and here they are, thrown in to the middle of what seems like a huge conundrum and no wonder most of them just want to get done.
I really do feel sorry for them. It is alien and sometimes inhospitable and I would sympathize but what does make me angry is that sometimes they don't really care about the internship at all. Because it's all internally evaluated, the outcome is a formality so why bother about this sham at all? I strongly feel colleges should orient freshers about working in organizations and why internships are important.
The most important reason as to why an internship is crucial, is because, it gives you a chance to apply one's business education in the real world and sort of tune in both. Reading about a concept is completely different from implementing it. There are a no of variables that need to be factored in during implementation.
The attitude towards internships is different in people who have worked before because obviously, they've been there etc. But these people view the internship more as an actual simulation of what they certainly hope to do after passing out. The difference, these guys know what they want, the freshers - have no clue and its all one big large experiment.
Another important aspect that is not stressed enough to interns is the reason why the industry is hiring them in the first place. Yes, we get cheap labour for 2 months but one is also spending a considerable time monitoring and guiding them. We take them in, hoping they have fresh perspectives and new ideas on tackling some standard industry issues. We want them to bring in their MBA education and implement best practises or latest trends in their projects.
This dialogue is not happening unfortunately. In India, its still a one way process and I hope the Indian MBA system changes and starts admitting more experienced folks.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Do you really want my business agency?
I sat through another boring agency presentation today. It's boring because they're all the same. slide, after slide of showing off all their "best" work and for no avail because I have already tuned off. Why? because they don't even know what I need from an agency!!
Case in point today, this agency that came in for a pitch, showed me slide after slide of all the best AD creatives they did. YAWN.After slide 7, I told them that I don't even do Ads and that I do a lot of brochures and that I'm really in need of an agency that understands layouts. They looked blankly at each other and scrambled to find something on brochures. They didn't and that's when something snapped inside.
I told them that if they were really wanted my business, they would have first asked me about what my needs were, understood my business and my communication plans beforehand and then would have come with a customized presentation aimed at addressing that very need. I always have a lot of respect for agencies that atleast take the pains to customize their presentations. One agency, knowing that ours was a technology company, put in examples of technology companies. I respect that. I want to do business with companies that respect me as a client too.
I definitely don't want to work with agencies that treat clients, or rather prospective clients with such disdain that they are already painting you with broad, hackneyed strokes. Imagine how they'll treat you once you do become their client!
Case in point today, this agency that came in for a pitch, showed me slide after slide of all the best AD creatives they did. YAWN.After slide 7, I told them that I don't even do Ads and that I do a lot of brochures and that I'm really in need of an agency that understands layouts. They looked blankly at each other and scrambled to find something on brochures. They didn't and that's when something snapped inside.
I told them that if they were really wanted my business, they would have first asked me about what my needs were, understood my business and my communication plans beforehand and then would have come with a customized presentation aimed at addressing that very need. I always have a lot of respect for agencies that atleast take the pains to customize their presentations. One agency, knowing that ours was a technology company, put in examples of technology companies. I respect that. I want to do business with companies that respect me as a client too.
I definitely don't want to work with agencies that treat clients, or rather prospective clients with such disdain that they are already painting you with broad, hackneyed strokes. Imagine how they'll treat you once you do become their client!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Best Practices: Marketing by Being Neutral
Lets face it, we all hate a sales pitch. A direct full on, obvious, loud, insensitive sales pitch. It brings to my mind, images of door-to-door sales people selling encyclopedias. Its the worst possible method to sell encylcopedias, because, the person selling it does such bad job of it and it also makes me feel guilty when I slam the door because, really, who buys encyclopedias on opening one's door?
BUY MY CREDIT CARD,BUY MY CREDIT CARD!!!
No, the first thing that any sales person must do, is to convince the buyer that she needs another credit card because of whatever reasons. Once a strong need has been created, the sales person can then swoop in and sell her the credit card.
The first step of creating a need in the buyer's mind is very important because it builds trust with the buyer. To the buyer you're like a third party neutral observer giving advise and most importantly there is no agenda in what you're saying. For, in a full on sales pitch, you'd hardly believe a word of what is being said because you are aware all along that the sales person has an agenda and that he's out to get you.
That's why behaving like you have no agenda can sometimes be the best marketing tool. Take for example, this page I landed on: http://www.lsfnetwork.com/importance-web-analytics.html
when I was doing some research on a web analytics article.
LSFnetwork is a internet based marketing agency. they do everything from media planning to search engine marketing and more. But look how they "sell" their products and services on this webpage for search engine marketing: http://www.lsfnetwork.com/sem-services.html
They first give solid statistics. Make a claim about web users and then provide third party articles on the right side bar. These articles give tips, elucidate web concepts and even provide strategies on marketing. Anybody who has a business would be interested in learning about all these. In all these articles, the LSFnetwork pitch comes only in the last paragraph but the thing is, the moment I come to the last paragraph, I'm convinced that LSFnetwork knows what its talking about, knows the internet better than I do and so I'm convinced that they can do the job.
All they did was appear neutral by putting in relevant resources. These resources project them as a company that understands the medium thoroughly and ergo built trust with me. Then when they sell me their stuff, I'm more receptive to their pitch and it does not sound like hollow sales talk.
I think its a brilliant strategy!
I think this strategy is pertinent to tech companies especially because tech products need the most amount of convincing. Technology is a difficult place to market products in, especially when its changing so rapidly. Customers will buy only when they are convinced about the product and no amount of sales talk is going to do it.
And customers will be convinced only when they see a product that meets their need and they see a product coming from a company that understand that technology thoroughly and seems confident about it. That's why "Thought Leadership" image is so important to tech companies these days. Customers will buy only from a company that truly seems like its an expert in a domain because it gives confidence to the customer. That's why I think its very important to be neutral sometimes in marketing technology products
Encyclopedias are not a commodity, so inorder to sell it, the person buying it has to be convinced that she really needs it. Nobody these days bothers with the convincing, they just straight away move to selling their product and that's what makes a sales pitch such a turn off.
BUY MY CREDIT CARD,BUY MY CREDIT CARD!!!
No, the first thing that any sales person must do, is to convince the buyer that she needs another credit card because of whatever reasons. Once a strong need has been created, the sales person can then swoop in and sell her the credit card.
The first step of creating a need in the buyer's mind is very important because it builds trust with the buyer. To the buyer you're like a third party neutral observer giving advise and most importantly there is no agenda in what you're saying. For, in a full on sales pitch, you'd hardly believe a word of what is being said because you are aware all along that the sales person has an agenda and that he's out to get you.
That's why behaving like you have no agenda can sometimes be the best marketing tool. Take for example, this page I landed on: http://www.lsfnetwork.com/importance-web-analytics.html
when I was doing some research on a web analytics article.
LSFnetwork is a internet based marketing agency. they do everything from media planning to search engine marketing and more. But look how they "sell" their products and services on this webpage for search engine marketing: http://www.lsfnetwork.com/sem-services.html
They first give solid statistics. Make a claim about web users and then provide third party articles on the right side bar. These articles give tips, elucidate web concepts and even provide strategies on marketing. Anybody who has a business would be interested in learning about all these. In all these articles, the LSFnetwork pitch comes only in the last paragraph but the thing is, the moment I come to the last paragraph, I'm convinced that LSFnetwork knows what its talking about, knows the internet better than I do and so I'm convinced that they can do the job.
All they did was appear neutral by putting in relevant resources. These resources project them as a company that understands the medium thoroughly and ergo built trust with me. Then when they sell me their stuff, I'm more receptive to their pitch and it does not sound like hollow sales talk.
I think its a brilliant strategy!
I think this strategy is pertinent to tech companies especially because tech products need the most amount of convincing. Technology is a difficult place to market products in, especially when its changing so rapidly. Customers will buy only when they are convinced about the product and no amount of sales talk is going to do it.
And customers will be convinced only when they see a product that meets their need and they see a product coming from a company that understand that technology thoroughly and seems confident about it. That's why "Thought Leadership" image is so important to tech companies these days. Customers will buy only from a company that truly seems like its an expert in a domain because it gives confidence to the customer. That's why I think its very important to be neutral sometimes in marketing technology products
Sunday, May 11, 2008
IPL: Hype or is it here to stay?
I haven't been able to figure out the Indian Premier League (IPL) yet. On the face it, IPL and its basis is pure marketing hype. The fanfare of its auctions, the bollywood influence all of it is meant to attract eyeballs but I don't know what is it that IPL has, that will make it a lasting phenomenon.
The IPL has been compared to the EPL on several occassions but what makes EPL so different is that these clubs enjoy tremendous support and that the loyalties have been developed over a century. The loyalty has come in due to stark differenciation between teams. For Eg: a Manchester United Team is distinctly different from an Arsenal Team and this stark division in turn builds loyalties and hence creates rivalries, which, I feel is most important in such a format.
But the big question is does IPL have the power to create such loyalties? Given that its the first season, on the face of it, I say NO, simply because the IPL model is rather superfluous when it comes to loyalties
Take for example the 6 teams in the fray. The stark division in this league is supposed to be based on city but what about the Mumbai Indians is Mumbai oriented? Considering that they have robin uthappa, shaun pollock, Dwayne bravo and only 4 mumbai players (including sachin), does one really expect all the mumbaikars to cheer for the team? The likely hood of the team changing completely next season for profit reasons also makes it likely that regional bias will not be given top priority. The Chennai Super Kings have only 4 Tamil Nadu Players out of a squad of 25 players!! The EPL on the other hand is dedicated to developing home grown talent. David Beckham and Wayne Rooney have come off the Man U and everton academies respectively. These clubs have the loyalties of their fans precisely because they are dedicated to the local community. The La Liga in Spain mandates that about 50% of the team must contain spanish players or local boys. This naturally ensures that regional identity is reinforced through the team.
My opinion is that the management needs to work keenly on honing loyalties and creating rivalries. That needs to be of top most priority in order for the league to work. Instant gratification is short lived and hopefully IPL won't pander to that.
An interesting article on the economic times examines just that. I completely agree with the article in that "Sustaining the excitement around the format depends squarely on the ability of various teams to build loyal fan bases". The article is also spot on about the marketing of all the teams. Its wholly undifferentiated and one really can't tell them apart from the others. Like what makes the Mumbai Indians different from the Deccan Chargers? the author rightly points out that "For eventually, a team is more than a motley collection of individuals; it must represent a point of view, a style of playing the game."
The article also has an interesting perspective in that the IPL might evolve into a unique format of its own and incorporate elements of reality television like innovation, surprises, twists and high drama
Read the Article Here
The IPL has been compared to the EPL on several occassions but what makes EPL so different is that these clubs enjoy tremendous support and that the loyalties have been developed over a century. The loyalty has come in due to stark differenciation between teams. For Eg: a Manchester United Team is distinctly different from an Arsenal Team and this stark division in turn builds loyalties and hence creates rivalries, which, I feel is most important in such a format.
But the big question is does IPL have the power to create such loyalties? Given that its the first season, on the face of it, I say NO, simply because the IPL model is rather superfluous when it comes to loyalties
Take for example the 6 teams in the fray. The stark division in this league is supposed to be based on city but what about the Mumbai Indians is Mumbai oriented? Considering that they have robin uthappa, shaun pollock, Dwayne bravo and only 4 mumbai players (including sachin), does one really expect all the mumbaikars to cheer for the team? The likely hood of the team changing completely next season for profit reasons also makes it likely that regional bias will not be given top priority. The Chennai Super Kings have only 4 Tamil Nadu Players out of a squad of 25 players!! The EPL on the other hand is dedicated to developing home grown talent. David Beckham and Wayne Rooney have come off the Man U and everton academies respectively. These clubs have the loyalties of their fans precisely because they are dedicated to the local community. The La Liga in Spain mandates that about 50% of the team must contain spanish players or local boys. This naturally ensures that regional identity is reinforced through the team.
My opinion is that the management needs to work keenly on honing loyalties and creating rivalries. That needs to be of top most priority in order for the league to work. Instant gratification is short lived and hopefully IPL won't pander to that.
An interesting article on the economic times examines just that. I completely agree with the article in that "Sustaining the excitement around the format depends squarely on the ability of various teams to build loyal fan bases". The article is also spot on about the marketing of all the teams. Its wholly undifferentiated and one really can't tell them apart from the others. Like what makes the Mumbai Indians different from the Deccan Chargers? the author rightly points out that "For eventually, a team is more than a motley collection of individuals; it must represent a point of view, a style of playing the game."
The article also has an interesting perspective in that the IPL might evolve into a unique format of its own and incorporate elements of reality television like innovation, surprises, twists and high drama
Read the Article Here
Monday, May 5, 2008
Only to come running back again
Just when I thought that the internet had just gotten entertaining with the delicious prospect of MicroHOO!, balmer, the original Monkey Man(watch this if you don't believe me) has gone and pulled the rug under Yahoo. Not surprisingly the latter's share price dropped an amazing 14% after the pull out. Well most people think its a ploy to put pressure on Yahoo! through its shareholders. That's the general view anyway, that Microsoft will eventually bid again but at a lower price. Well that's how his letter to Jerry Yang looks. Well here below, the letter in all its awesomeness.(I'm kidding ofcourse, about the awesomeness I mean, I prefer his inspirational speeches anyday, Balmer not Jerry Yang)
Dear Jerry:
After over three months, we have reached the conclusion of the process regarding a possible combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. I first want to convey my personal thanks to you, your management team, and Yahoo!'s Board of Directors for your consideration of our proposal...
I am disappointed that Yahoo! has not moved towards accepting our offer. I first called you with our offer on January 31 because I believed that a combination of our two companies would have created real value for our respective shareholders and would have provided consumers, publishers, and advertisers with greater innovation and choice in the marketplace. Our decision to offer a 62 percent premium at that time reflected the strength of these convictions.
In our conversations this week, we conveyed our willingness to raise our offer to $33.00 per share, reflecting again our belief in this collective opportunity. This increase would have added approximately another $5 billion of value to your shareholders, compared to the current value of our initial offer. It also would have reflected a premium of over 70 percent compared to the price at which your stock closed on January 31. Yet it has proven insufficient, as your final position insisted on Microsoft paying yet another $5 billion or more, or at least another $4 per share above our $33.00 offer.
Also, after giving this week's conversations further thought, it is clear to me that it is not sensible for Microsoft to take our offer directly to your shareholders. This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer. Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo! undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft.
We regard with particular concern your apparent planning to respond to a " hostile" bid by pursuing a new arrangement that would involve or lead to the outsourcing to Google of key paid Internet search terms offered by Yahoo! today. In our view, such an arrangement with the dominant search provider would make an acquisition of Yahoo! undesirable to us for a number of reasons:
First, it would fundamentally undermine Yahoo!'s own strategy and long-term viability by encouraging advertisers to use Google as opposed to your Panama paid search system. This would also fragment your search advertising and display advertising strategies and the ecosystem surrounding them. This would undermine the reliance on your display advertising business to fuel future growth.
Accordingly, your apparent plan to pursue such an arrangement in the event of a proxy contest or exchange offer leads me to the firm decision not to pursue such a path. Instead, I hereby formally withdraw Microsoft's proposal to acquire Yahoo!.
Thank you again for the time we have spent together discussing this.
Now to learn what he really meant in his letter, read this hilarious take
Dear Jerry:
After over three months, we have reached the conclusion of the process regarding a possible combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. I first want to convey my personal thanks to you, your management team, and Yahoo!'s Board of Directors for your consideration of our proposal...
I am disappointed that Yahoo! has not moved towards accepting our offer. I first called you with our offer on January 31 because I believed that a combination of our two companies would have created real value for our respective shareholders and would have provided consumers, publishers, and advertisers with greater innovation and choice in the marketplace. Our decision to offer a 62 percent premium at that time reflected the strength of these convictions.
In our conversations this week, we conveyed our willingness to raise our offer to $33.00 per share, reflecting again our belief in this collective opportunity. This increase would have added approximately another $5 billion of value to your shareholders, compared to the current value of our initial offer. It also would have reflected a premium of over 70 percent compared to the price at which your stock closed on January 31. Yet it has proven insufficient, as your final position insisted on Microsoft paying yet another $5 billion or more, or at least another $4 per share above our $33.00 offer.
Also, after giving this week's conversations further thought, it is clear to me that it is not sensible for Microsoft to take our offer directly to your shareholders. This approach would necessarily involve a protracted proxy contest and eventually an exchange offer. Our discussions with you have led us to conclude that, in the interim, you would take steps that would make Yahoo! undesirable as an acquisition for Microsoft.
We regard with particular concern your apparent planning to respond to a " hostile" bid by pursuing a new arrangement that would involve or lead to the outsourcing to Google of key paid Internet search terms offered by Yahoo! today. In our view, such an arrangement with the dominant search provider would make an acquisition of Yahoo! undesirable to us for a number of reasons:
First, it would fundamentally undermine Yahoo!'s own strategy and long-term viability by encouraging advertisers to use Google as opposed to your Panama paid search system. This would also fragment your search advertising and display advertising strategies and the ecosystem surrounding them. This would undermine the reliance on your display advertising business to fuel future growth.
Accordingly, your apparent plan to pursue such an arrangement in the event of a proxy contest or exchange offer leads me to the firm decision not to pursue such a path. Instead, I hereby formally withdraw Microsoft's proposal to acquire Yahoo!.
Thank you again for the time we have spent together discussing this.
Now to learn what he really meant in his letter, read this hilarious take
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Site It!
(Another of my published articles. If anybody wants to reference this, I would appreciate a citation or a link back.thanks)
I read a review once of a book (I forget which) where the reviewer said, “I liked it so much, I wanted to run out into the street and tell everyone I knew”. I can totally empathize with that feeling because we as humans have this irresistible urge to recommend. We particularly tend to do that when we have enjoyed a product or service. A friend of mine made it a point to tell everyone of the great service she was getting from her broadband provider and I must admit, I did give them a call to see if I could switch over to theirs. A friend’s recommendation is unarguably more powerful than all the marketing tactics put together, as it is coming from a person who is implicitly trusted. This same implicit trust is being put to use on a phenomenon called Social Bookmarking
According to Wikipedia, Social Bookmarking is defined as “a method for internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet with the help of metadata”. Social Bookmarking combines the practice of bookmarking a site (which is conventionally done by adding the link to our “favorites” tab present in our browser) and tagging it under specific keywords. It is analogous to filing documents in folders albeit with a Web 2.0 twist! To get started on Social Bookmarking, one has to usually register with Social Bookmarking sites such as Del.icio.us, Digg, Stumbleupon etc and then start saving the web pages that one wants to store or share onto these sites. The sites are usually “tagged” based on various criteria and can be made either public (to viewed by all) or private (to be viewed by the user only). Although, the phenomenon of saving bookmarks online is more than a decade old, the emphasis is now on the “tagged” information and how it can be distributed through a social network. The mantra of social bookmarking sites is not only storing bookmarks but also sharing it with our network and also inturn, discovering the bookmarks of our network.
Social Bookmarking is a radical new way of organizing & categorizing the information on the web. The most significant aspect of Social Bookmarking is the creation of “Tags”. A tag refers to a label that classifies the information on a page. These tags can then be made publicly accessible, thus enabling us to connect with other users of similar interests. Indeed, Social Bookmarking sites are often heralded as the new wave after search engines as the facility of tags makes it easy for anyone to search for any information relating to that tag. Another advantage of tags is that the classification is done by humans who understand the content as opposed to search engines, which determine the content of a page based on an algorithm.
Social Bookmarking also allows for another interesting phenomenon. As sites get bookmarked, tagged and shared, the site that gets bookmarked more is obviously perceived as more relevant than the others. This inturn results in an organic ranking system that enables users to search for the right content more effectively. For example, a site under the tag of “Social Bookmarking” that is bookmarked by over 100 people would logically seem a better a choice than a site that is bookmarked by only 5 people.
Social Bookmarking is not only advantageous to researchers but to businesses as well. Social Bookmarking sites offer high visibility. These sites attract a lot of traffic from people who are looking for something. Through tags and the inorganic ranking system, they offer a better positioning to any site. Additionally when a particular site is bookmarked on a social bookmarking site it creates a backlink to that site. The more it is bookmarked and the more backlinks that are created, the more it is valued by search engines, as backlinks are a clear indication of popularity. Social Bookmarking can be an effective tool in marketing a website by ensuring that it is tagged on as many social bookmarking sites as possible. Additionally, by adding social bookmarking sites’ icons on a website, one must encourage visitors to tag the page inorder to increase the number of bookmarks. This why most news articles these days offer icons of Del.icio.us, Digg etc to bookmark the pages
As with any evolving technology, there are certain downsides to Social Bookmarking as well. As the most important aspect of these sites are the tags, the efficacy depends on the accuracy with which these tags are created and as there is currently no standard on how tags should be created, various errors relating to meaning, spelling, structure etc often creep up. Secondly, as social bookmarking is driven solely by people, there is a risk of presenting a skewed view of a particular topic and also interpreting it in a certain manner.
Tagging information through keywords could radically change the way we store, share & discover information. More importantly, it has the potential to create a system that understands the human rationale of classifying information as opposed to search engines and their complex algorithms.
Book Review: All Marketers Are Liars By Seth Godin
If you are a marketer and you are about to implode on reading the title of Seth Godin’s book, don’t worry, his book is not about maligning marketers at all. Infact, quite the opposite, Godin believes that “Marketers have the leverage to generate huge impact in less time and with less money than ever before”. This book, instead should have been titled, “All Marketers Are Story Tellers” but then would such a bland title make it stand apart from the hordes of other books on marketing?
That is exactly the premise of this book. Consumers are bombarded with information and data like never before. In order to deal with this influx of information we tend to ignore the ordinary and pay attention to the remarkable. According to Godin, because we are so overwhelmed with all data around us, we tend to tell ourselves “Stories” (in other words, form perceptions). These stories or lies enable us to deal to with all the complexity of the world. Stories make it easier to understand the world around us. Godin argues that only those marketers who tell stories that resonate with consumers will be successful rather than those harping on purely facts or benefits.
When considering how consumers actually make purchasing decisions, this argument is quite compelling. For example, when buying sneakers rarely do people make the purchase based on whether it can absorb shocks, or if its sole is made from X grade rubber. The decision is more often made based on the mental image formed in the mind of the person buying it. Do I look cool or hip when wearing it? What will my friends think? etc. It is precisely this kind of story that needs to be told inorder to “sell” the product to the consumer. A story that consumer wants to believe.
Godin says that a story works when it’s accurate and consistent and more importantly, matches the worldview of the audience being told the story. These early adopters are convinced by the story and they in turn tell their friends. Thus, a small niche market, turns into a trend and then finally into a mass market. In this era of rapid globalization, it is no longer enough that a product is cheaper, faster and better. Anybody can manufacture such a commodity. There is very little differenciation and even if there is, it will soon be replicated. This is where the power of the story comes in. Marketers succeed when they tell a story that fits the worldview of the consumer, a story that is intuitively embraced and then shared with friends.
Another reason why authentic stories need to be told, according to the author, is because we live in an age of choices and unbelievable customization. The mantra of one-size-fits-all type television advertising no longer works. The media like the internet has made it possible for marketers to tailor messages for a niche audience. In order to tell the story more effectively and in order for it to be believable, Marketers need to live the story through various experiential outlets
Godin also adds a caveat on the thin line between fibs and fraud. Fibs are stories that are exaggerating the truth but a fraud is when a story is intended to deceive the customer. The power and responsibility of marketers is amply demonstrated in an example in the book of how a prominent multinational company marketed a powdered formula to mothers in developing countries. The company weaved a story of how a powdered formula was better than breastfeeding. According to a UNICEF report this kind of deceitful marketing led to the death of millions of babies in developing countries.
The book is a quick and fun read with the language being rather breezy. It almost feels like you’re having an informal chat with the author. Many of the insights offered are backed up numerous examples. But the constant repetition and belaboring of points could have been avoided and the content could have been organized in a better fashion instead of seeming like random jottings. Another drawback of the book is that all the examples listed in the book is US centric and as a result, it is hard to ascertain if it such strategies will work in emerging markets where internet penetration is not high and television is still the sole medium of advertising.
Overall I felt that this book provided valuable insights on marketing psychology and on a new trend emerging in marketing. This book would be very useful for startups or small businesses who want to get a toe-hold in the market and grow fast. I’m not entirely convinced that this strategy would work for big and established brands.
Update: All Marketers Are Liars is even a blog. Check it out
That is exactly the premise of this book. Consumers are bombarded with information and data like never before. In order to deal with this influx of information we tend to ignore the ordinary and pay attention to the remarkable. According to Godin, because we are so overwhelmed with all data around us, we tend to tell ourselves “Stories” (in other words, form perceptions). These stories or lies enable us to deal to with all the complexity of the world. Stories make it easier to understand the world around us. Godin argues that only those marketers who tell stories that resonate with consumers will be successful rather than those harping on purely facts or benefits.
When considering how consumers actually make purchasing decisions, this argument is quite compelling. For example, when buying sneakers rarely do people make the purchase based on whether it can absorb shocks, or if its sole is made from X grade rubber. The decision is more often made based on the mental image formed in the mind of the person buying it. Do I look cool or hip when wearing it? What will my friends think? etc. It is precisely this kind of story that needs to be told inorder to “sell” the product to the consumer. A story that consumer wants to believe.
Godin says that a story works when it’s accurate and consistent and more importantly, matches the worldview of the audience being told the story. These early adopters are convinced by the story and they in turn tell their friends. Thus, a small niche market, turns into a trend and then finally into a mass market. In this era of rapid globalization, it is no longer enough that a product is cheaper, faster and better. Anybody can manufacture such a commodity. There is very little differenciation and even if there is, it will soon be replicated. This is where the power of the story comes in. Marketers succeed when they tell a story that fits the worldview of the consumer, a story that is intuitively embraced and then shared with friends.
Another reason why authentic stories need to be told, according to the author, is because we live in an age of choices and unbelievable customization. The mantra of one-size-fits-all type television advertising no longer works. The media like the internet has made it possible for marketers to tailor messages for a niche audience. In order to tell the story more effectively and in order for it to be believable, Marketers need to live the story through various experiential outlets
Godin also adds a caveat on the thin line between fibs and fraud. Fibs are stories that are exaggerating the truth but a fraud is when a story is intended to deceive the customer. The power and responsibility of marketers is amply demonstrated in an example in the book of how a prominent multinational company marketed a powdered formula to mothers in developing countries. The company weaved a story of how a powdered formula was better than breastfeeding. According to a UNICEF report this kind of deceitful marketing led to the death of millions of babies in developing countries.
The book is a quick and fun read with the language being rather breezy. It almost feels like you’re having an informal chat with the author. Many of the insights offered are backed up numerous examples. But the constant repetition and belaboring of points could have been avoided and the content could have been organized in a better fashion instead of seeming like random jottings. Another drawback of the book is that all the examples listed in the book is US centric and as a result, it is hard to ascertain if it such strategies will work in emerging markets where internet penetration is not high and television is still the sole medium of advertising.
Overall I felt that this book provided valuable insights on marketing psychology and on a new trend emerging in marketing. This book would be very useful for startups or small businesses who want to get a toe-hold in the market and grow fast. I’m not entirely convinced that this strategy would work for big and established brands.
Update: All Marketers Are Liars is even a blog. Check it out
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