Tweets for Radio Show

I was driving my car in the morning and felt monotonous. So I switched on the radio. They were 8 channels and each one putting up some kind of a 'me too' content.The caller speaks to the RJ on some absurd topic and this goes on for a couple of mins and then you get to hear the latest song, repeated a 100 times in each of these channels. Truly uninspiring!!!!.

Suddenly, 3 disjointed things popped out of my head:
1. In the new age marketing/ Marketing 2.0( thanks to Bernie Borges for this term)content and relationships are the most important things for a consumer

2. How can I connect a Marketing 1.0 medium like radio with the buzz media/Web 2.0 channel

3. Most important of all, how can I make the content interesting, engaging and entertaining.

Big Idea:The Venn diagram of these 3 disjointed things led to an idea. MTV used to have this show in which when the song was playing, some interesting trivia's about the song, artists, music directors et al was displayed as a runner. The content was generated by the producer of the TV show.Things have changed a lot in the last 4 years. We are living in an era where consumer is generating content and consuming content.

New kind of Radio shows:: Lets say the program is an Michael Jackson (MJ) special. The RJ, while introducing the song, can provide one trivia to start. The show is about encouraging listeners of this show to tweet their trivia to the RJ. The RJ will then get to pick and choose the best of them and share it in the show. Mind it all this will happen real time. For example if the song to be played is 'Heal the world'. imagine if the RJ gets a trivia tweet from one of the listener as " In a 2001 Internet chat with fans, Jackson said "Heal the World" is the song he is most proud to have created". To many a Jackson fans any news about him will get them ecstatic...Am sure this will create a postive WOM for the radio shows. The obvious thing is that you get away from monotonous content and get in to engaging content which will help build relationships.. Such is the power of web 2.0 tools

So can we start hearing more tweets :-)

New Roles

Its almost inevitable that the marketing/media managers are forced to look at internet as a medium for brand building. While the inertia was high to move to Internet, thanks to the overwhelming adoption of social networks, marketers are now looking at more ways of permission or collaboration marketing than marketing through intrusion ( imagine a banner on the road screaming for attention when you are busy driving).

This gets to me to think as to how the marketing team of the future is going to look like... Some trends to justify this thought:
1.Social networks are proving to be new ways of engaging customers
2. Interruption marketing moves way for permission marketing
3. Rapid progress on the social media measurement. What is spoken about your brand in www is often asked question. Seth Godin has launched brands in public(BIP).
4. Emergence of measurement tools from radiance, hubspot gives enough opportunity for marketers to focus on the activities online.

As web 2.0 is proving to be an interactive medium, marketers are sure to put in additional resources not just money but create new roles like:

1. Chief Engagement Officer - Online( CEGO):-)
2. Engagement manager - Facebook appverdising ( applications+ advertising)
3. Customer Response Manager - Twitter ( kind of work Comcast is doing using Twitter)

Cool... Let me look for new designation :-).

Whose Word is it anyway?

Imagine a scenario.....You are computer literate, savvy to the extent that you know how to use excel, word or power point. A persona of this nature when asked to buy a computer will be quite unsure on what to do and what to buy. I am quite confident that at least 30% of the associates in a given organization will be of this nature.

The obvious thing is to reach out to a super computer savvy associate or friend to get some help in purchase. Conventional wisdom will make you believe that its the best way to purchase.

I see a challenge with this approach.

Usually as early Majority ( refer to Moore's idea diffusion curve) when we seek for referrals, we reach out to innovators or early adopters.The kind of conversation early adopter persona will have about computers includes RAM, Processor, Multimedia Card, OS ( Linux), DVD + /-RW with Dual Layer Write Capabilities, Optical USB Mouse and all possible jargons which will be confusing for the Early/Late Majority.

It will be an information overload for the buyer hence the best option is to choose the path of least resistance. Go ahead and ask your geek friend to chose the desktop for you. I am sure it will be a good purchase.

The problem is post purchase... You spend so much money to get the best configuration but you have no idea how to put it to use.. What you do is the same Word, excel Power point.. This could possibly cause discontent and may eventually create some resistance for new technology adoption.

This gap will serve as pointer for marketers who intend to build long term relationship with their customers

If a good majority of the consumers fall into this category , marketers may have to try innovative ways to reach out this segment. May have to help them take baby steps by involving consumers of similar behavior and aptitude.

The Quest is to find new way to identify the right sneezers (influencers) for the Early majority or Late majority.. Whose word is it anyway?

Tring Tring- Please Listen

I wanted to purchase a mobile phone over the weekend.Went to one of the leading stores in Chennai. I wouldnt argue that I am gadget freek but fairly technology savvy.

I had a few specs for phone which I duly communicated to the sales person. This includes:
1. Not a heavy phone
2. Easy to Use
3. No need for a slide phone
4. Shouldnt be fragile as my 1 year old daughter may want to use it :-)

I always believed that there are too many options and I will be confused what to buy. Contrary to my belief, the sales person came back with very few options or rather non options..

What makes it even more confusing is the model numbers and the laundry listing of features which are supposed to appeal to our rational minds.

Take care to look at my specifications. It has nothing to do with 8 mega pixel camera or Document scannner etc.. No brochure states consumer terminologies.My guess is that a section of consumers are overwhelmed by these terms that they choose path of least resistance like sales person's choice or friend's suggestion.

I see an opportunity. Can these mobile companies start listening to these conversions? Capturing these adjectives stated by consumers on an ongoing basis will certainly help them get product or communication ideas..

I will try and see how to capture this conversation.After all this tring is worth listening..

Say no 2 Mass marketing - look for trenches

I remember reading an article on how New Zealanders marketed their gooseberry in USA. All they did was to call it a 'Kiwi' and put them in niche Latin food stores as Latinos use gooseberry,which is similar to mangoes and peaches, in their kitchens. If the new Zealanders had gone to WalMart's or COSTCO ( any American stores), there will be no takers. Look for the trenches and the risk takers will ensure that they market the products through word of mouth.

This inference inspired a thought. Chennai, a metropolitan city in India, has recently seen a surge in floating population thanks to IT and auto companies. Many people from the Northern part of India who come to Chennai loathe Chennai as it is hot and humid and the only thing that gets discussed is movies and only movies.

Contrary to a lot of beliefs Chennai has changed a lot. It has many multi cuisine restaurants ( Malaysian, Koren,Japanese to name a few), some excellent theatres and stage plays( both English and Hindi), pretty active night life for nocturnals.. Chennai has changed a lot...

Here is a marketing idea. Intend to launch a news letter to non Chennaites which will higlight on some of the super cool events/hang outs in Chennai. The newsletter will be titled ' F N C O' ( For Non Chennaites Only). Instead of trying out a mass marketing approach, the goal is just to target people who are in need of such information. Naturally, these risk takers will be keen to experiment and sneeze ( word of mouth). That way the proliferation will be much faster and better than launching a me too mag.

Hopefully after the launch of this news letter, am praying that people will discuss not just the weather of Chennai alone. Hope it takes away the heat from Chennai!!!!!

Enter ebusiness

As we look at the world wide web, we find organizations at different ends of the spectrum. At one end we have brick and mortar companies which use the web as brochureware and at the other end we have companies which do business in the online space..

In general, the web has moved away from a static medium which has a meager capability of static information, simple transaction to a medium which encourages multichannel buying. But traditional marketers still perceive web as a supplementary channel and not so much a standalone channel which has the capability to address all aspects of the marketing mix. Some Marketers believe that the web cannot be used to:

1. Generate consumer insights
2. used for category expansion
3. Reinforce Imagery
4. Service customers through online as there will be no personal touch

The web is doing all is this and much more. Thanks to web 2.0, consumers self expression,a manifestation of their thoughts, are well captured. Just that it is an arduous task of sifting through voluminous data. Consumers expression about products, services etc can be captured through videos, photos and comments written in youtube,flickr and blogs respectively.

Web is utilized as a persuasion medium. Lets take for example the travel industry.First time customers for a specific travel product are well enticed through peer comments, Photos, videos and ratings. Websites of car manufactures are good example of how to build imagery and encourage multichannel buying.3D demo of cars gives a good perspective of the user for color choice, interiors and dashboard appearance. The other product literatures reduces information asymmetry thus giving the control to the user as far as purchase is concerned.

Banks are good example of how they have pioneered channel migration strategies.Avatars are used to give a personal touch to the experience.Personalization as feature is provided by default to give the user a perception of familiar territories..

Thought leaders in this space are modelling the movement to online as a mimic of the real life so that the transition is seamless for the users. iPhone's user experience won rave reviews because of this aspect.

As marketers, you have a business case.It is only fair to state that for your business to succeed, a strong ebusiness strategy is a must...

New Generation Search- My experience

I google every day like any other normal human being and truly believe that it has been the next best thing after internet which has helped reduce information asymmtery in the world. You wanna buy a phone or a camera or know about renewable  energy, google will pull up relevant pages... But the intent of this blog is not promte Google but to look at what is missing in the current search?

Why is this important? If we look at the trend/growth of a search engine, there emerges a strong pattern with the changing requirements of users. The first generation of search were more focussed on key words based results... While the users were happy with these results, prolonged exposure was pushing for a change.... In comes google with a search which based on fabuluous algorithm which includes one key attribute of references, aka, refernce notes in reserach papers. What google achieved was no ordinary effort....Their algorithms were so strong, that search results became more relevant... Both the hardware and the algorithm created a huge entry barrier that Google became a behmoth with small businesses mushrooming around it. This includes SEO specialits, PPC specialits.

Google made it even more interesting by having a sponsored link which came up with relevant pages closer to the search key word of the user.. Excesive exposure to search is pushing the user for even more relavent search... The new search should achieve what Google is not able to do it in its  current avatar. Let me substantiate this with an example.

If you are searching for a footbal club and its merchandise, google will come up with an answer in 0.12 seconds ( not sure if this matters to anybody). But what it will fail to address is the intent of the user.. Lets make the search for any day - day activities for which you need an answer. For example, you buy a DVD in the US and trying to play it in the DVD player purchased in India..The DVD player does not read the disc. You want to solve this issue desperatly. Turns towards Google.. The commoly used key words will be

• DVD disc US DVD player India
• US disc compatible with player in India
• Not able to play DVD purchased in the US

Fo all these keywords, the result returned will be meaning less as nobody creates a page matching you intent and keywords. This is an ardous task as every human being thinks differently.

Your search will be become meaningful only after you get the keyword called 'region code'.This will be achieved only after 15-20 attempts. Most people give up by then...

So what does it mean? The current search helps search for keywords and not for the users intent... Hypothetically, twitter helps achieve that because, what is in the mind is captured on Twitter. It is better than FB as the relationsip is asymmetric. Use search.twitter.com to find out what is in the mind of the human race? Sounds very ambitious.

So what should the Gen 2.0 search engines do to make them more relevant to users?

While,we have many startups which has started designing the Search 3.0. Please read http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/search_20_vs_tr.php

But  I have a few suggestions to the enhance the exisiting search functionlity:

• Build an intent list:With every search result, ask the user to rate the quality of the search. If the result is not satisfactory, ask the users for exact explanation of requirement 
• Suggested terms: Based on the intent list,pls suggest alternate list to the users and ask them to rate it.
• Build a community/social network based search

Let me explore these ideas and build a PoC for the new generation search.. I am in search of it