Clicking Online PR

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Harsh Vardhan Dutta

While I may have attended less than a handful blogger events/meets, I have no speck of doubt that bloggers run the online PR like no one else can. Its disorganized, right, but no brand today can ignore the influence of online blogging, which a prominent blogger recent remarked, should be treated like ‘mainstream media’. It’s not there, but with brands waking up to the influence of blogging, they are catching them rapidly. Most bloggers enjoy a niche in a certain area, and have cult following. Even a blog with a 1000 unique visitors a day is good enough to influence decisions, especially in an age where everything is searched before it is bought or experienced. For example, from laptops to movies, we want to have an unbiased and trusted opinion. In short, no body wants to waste time and money and land up with a worthless product.
From brands point-of-view, influencing bloggers ethically is important because blogs also occur well in search results, as well as popularly shared on social media platforms.

A Few Vital Points:

Make relevant conversations: Bloggers are raw, opinionated folks who lack the basic principles of writing like a professional journalist (this is not a blogger-negative point). Therefore, it is dangerous for brands to let their reputation float online. Solution: Identify primary bloggers in your niche, and get together a blogger’s meet to introduce your product/campaign. In short, do PR.

Do not alienate bloggers: Blogger, like a mainstream journalist, is as much a professional as human. Giving out second-hand treatment to bloggers might just rub off the wrong way. Equal treatment by brands will result in ensuring that in long –term, as online influencers gain traction, bloggers/online influencers get their due importance.
Include influencers, not just bloggers:  Don’t forget there are Twitter celebs too! And they have massive following. Some of them have about 50,000 followers.

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Brand Face-shift on Facebook

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Harsh Vardhan Dutta

Whenever I see a newsfeed post from Cricinfo on Facebook, it gives me shudders. There’s a reason for that. I have been a cricket devotee all my life. For the past decade or so, since the Internet dawned upon us, I have almost everyday visited Cricinfo, for scorecards, news, opinions, stories, etc. I have to say that visiting Cricinfo has been a delight because the content has always been fresh, sensible and encyclopedic in nature. Only once did I ever notice a typo in Cricinfo (it’s another story that I once applied for a job there in my early 20s and faced an outright rejection). All in all, I revere the cricket portal. What puts me dearly off is the Facebook page content of Cricinfo, which is totally contrasting to the content on the portal.

Here’s a little comparison that I have done:

Content Personality on Cricinfo.com Content Personality on Cricinfo Facebook Page
Focus on core cricket news, opinions, data Focus on fun & slapstic humor.
You can select either a global or country-specific edition Very India-centric

 
Expert videos, articles Naïve Content
Catering to cricket-lover, followers, brand loyalists Can’f figure out who they are catering to?

From both social media marketing and brand personality view point I see that Cricinfo has behaved on Facebook like most brands try to do – they try to become lighter in nature, more humorous and somewhat ‘jazzy’. The downside is that such brands shred their personality doing that. Cricinfo is one such example. In a flurry to be on Facebook, brands have become like the medium, instead of being what they are. Just because Facebook is casual in nature hardly implies that brands have to ‘compulsively’ entertain. Even Dalai Lama has a page on Facebook, but he acts no Russell Peters.

Having said that, I agree that you need to prune and customize content for a more time-crunched Facebook reader, but you can’t change the face of your brand.

You need to speak the same way, perhaps say more in less!

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In the Face with Pan Bahar Crystal and Lifebuoy

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Harsh Vardhan Dutta

It’s never been done before, at least in my memory that a brand has come out stating quite unabashedly that they are not most expensive in their league. Yes, not the most premium, but the most expensive (in cost)! The strategy is clear for Pan Bahar Crystal: tickle the pretentious and don’t give a shit (or do?) to others. At Rs 200/75 gm (details from their Facebook page), Pan Bahar is playing on shallow minds (yes, I am 100% opinionated here, even as a professional marketer). The USPs are a crystal on the cap of the can, ‘special’ holographic mirror pouch of 4 gm, with added silver leaves! It is hard for me to name Pan Bahar Crystal as a premium brand; after all which premium brands puts out a campaign proclaiming it is the ‘most expensive’ brand in the world. The basic argument in this case would the mindset of the core TG who view crystal as something associated with luxury, and their overall gold-laden lifestyle syncs with Pan Bahar Crystal. For me, the ad has killed all notions of subtlety, lost all value and gained a ‘cost’, and put off, what I hope to say, some of its TG.

Chappati PR
So the Mahakumbh, apart from the tragic stampede and celebrity visits, has been in news for another reason. For the Lifebuoy Chappati campaign. The idea of stamping chappatis across 100-odd dhabas with ‘Lifebuoy se haath dhoye kya?’ (did you wash your hands with Lifebuoy) must have surprised quite a few hungry souls at Allahbad. The novel campaign, conceptualized and executed by OgilvyAction, capitalizes on the sheer number of Mahakumbh devotees who I also believe to be a part of core TG of the brand.

Intriguing and unique, the chappati campaign has also been able to drive home the PR advantage, and ‘stamp’ their presence beyond the banks of Ganges.

 

Image Source: afaqs.com

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The Curse of Sourced Content

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Harsh Vardhan Dutta

What is upsetting about most Facebook brand pages (in Indian social media landscape) is the sheer number of wall content that is either sourced from YouTube, ageing (not vintage) quotations that have faced the brunt of time, or silly proverbs that are as relevant as camel-riding on highway. What is contradictory is that most Facebook brand pages are managed by professional/creative agencies and what they fail to bring is the creative perspective to these social platforms. The modus operandi seems to be: ‘dig the web, cull the content, paste it on the wall, and do that on daily basis’. In that case, there’s only one winner: the sourced content that is going viral! So, my advice to brands on social media – Create content that can go viral! Be the passenger; not the transporter.

Having criticized the 3rd party content sharing policy at length, I also believe that some of it is necessary, only if it makes sense and is in sync with the theme and personality of the brand. However, it seems, most of the shared/sourced content is put up to keep the page ‘active’ and have the dreaded ‘Comments & Likes’ coming.

I believe that a brand short of creative outputs (yes, its difficult to have them on daily basis) must innovate to create engaging conversations:

a)    Focus on fresh content: Create your own contact. Creatives, wallpapers, quotations (yes, what are copywriters for), polls, contests, applications

b)    Assimilate content: Than simply doing a quick Copy + Paste, it might be better to create a visual/textual collage content to engage the target audience. If you are not hiring, a social media agency, get a content writing agency to do the job

c)    Let the users/fans work: As an agency, you don’t have to do the hard work all the time. Okay, let me rephrase, as an agency you don’t have to do the fun work. Let the users fill in wall posts and incentivize them for that. Get ideas rolling.

Since most Facebook brand pages appear the same simply because of sourced content, a simple and fresh approach can be a major differentiator. Moving away from the clichéd and easy, brands can create unique communication strategies. A lot many good ideas unfortunately do not see light of the day because of brand’s skepticism towards digital. Some time back, I had proposed the concept of ‘webisodes’ to a well-known company. The concept was appreciated but due to budget constraints, it never took off. When the rules and clichés are broken, we will certainly see a new dawn of social media marketing, instead of social media sourcing.

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The Age of 1+1

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Harsh Vardhan Dutta

Remember the days when the common question at a kirana store used to be “is pe koi scheme hai kya?” (what’s the scheme/offer on this product?). The good-old 80s and 90s were the decades of 1+1, when getting a detergent meant that you could get a soap free, or a toothbrush didn’t cost you paisa extra when you went out buying a toothpaste. It was, in a way, the best way for brands to penetrate a new brand into the consumer’s psyche and offer them utmost delight as well. However, the downside came when the customer got too used to 1+1. So, the next question that came from the consumer was, “which brand is offering 1+1?” The brand with a 1+1 then started to hog limelight. Unsurprisingly, it became a case of musical chairs for brands because all brands could not offer 1+1 on all consumer durables round the year! The question was how to sustain the ‘1+1’ customer because the typical ‘1+1’ customer had his loyalty to the ‘scheme’ and not the brand. That was a shock for brand custodians who thought that Toothpaste X enjoyed more loyalty over Toothpaste Y because of the product. It did not matter to the customer which toothpaste rubbed his teeth in the morning. What matter was the cursed ‘1+1’.

So, what did the brands learn? Same old thing that be long-term and not short-term. The next wave (still going on) was to create an equity for the brand, not entirely based on economics of purchase, but economics of choice. The economics of choice is an interesting one in which the consumer makes a choice between two products at the same price point (almost). What would be his criterion for purchasing then? Likeness (gut feel to like something), value (in terms of health, impact, size), lasting (longevity of the product), feel-good (association with the brand), and word-of-mouth. Barring the last one (the most critical one), brands began to work on the first four. For example, they roped in dentists in toothpaste ads, elaborating why Toothpaste X is greater than Toothpaste Y. The shift from economics of purchase to economics of choice. X gives you glistening teeth, lasting teeth, better smile and chances to have a gorgeous girlfriend. The challenge appeared when Toothpaste Y went ahead and hired a celebrity dentist and not an actor like Toothpaste X did. Whoo! So, the shift in brand equity happened. Toothpaste X then hired a Bollywood celebrity. Beat that! A billionaire superstar uses Toothpaste X. Toothpaste Y hired even a bigger superstar. Toothpaste X countered claims of Y, and vice-versa.

Uff! That’s where are, what we now call ‘war of brands.’ The consumer has now grown beyond ‘1+1’ and conditioned to get a brand that highlights value, impact, lasting, and feel-good factor. 1+1, well, does not hold any good, if it’s not the consumer’s favored brand. Having said that, I still miss the 1+1 days, the excitement of getting a small jar of chayavanprash with honey bottle!

The 1+1 is dead. Long Live 1+1. HAH!

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The Long and Short of Copy

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Harsh Vardhan Dutta

Print ads stuck on the wall in markets usually catch my eyes, especially the ones that are creatively done; not the typical ‘vazan ghatao’ ones . Two days ago an ad stuck on a wall in Hauz Khas Village made me pause for a moment. It was about a website/portal that invites people to share their skill with others, and on the other hand, invites people to learn a skill from experts (one pays, one earns, one commissions). Nice idea, good concept, just what the ecommerce doctor ordered. What I did not like about the ad was the painstakingly long copy it entailed. One had to read through the complete ad to understand what was being talked about. Bad communication in my opinion, especially when you are targeting the impatient youth (the ad was stuck below a pub which would mean that you are making drunk read through a periodical). Perhaps, 20 years back, consumers had the patience to read and appreciate. In fact, the more said the better. Today the communication landscape has changed. The shorter, the better. “Not a word more” is the mantra. And yes, it runs across all mediums – print, electronic and digital.

Not to forget, we are the smartphone generation (even me with significant grey hair) who even complain about the sun not rising on time. We only have time to watch your content as long as you can entertain. One dull moment and our fingers do their dance almost instinctively on TV remote. We search for the channel of our choice till we find entertainment nirvana. Ditto for print ads and digital advertising. With this psychology of consumers, its quite natural that no one wants to read or watch more than needed.

Having said that, I am a huge fan of superfluous, if one can get it right. Long copy is useful when you have a) the right content that makes sense throughout, b) when you do targeted advertising. A consumer of health supplements is likely to watch an ad that educates him, provides him relevant content on exercising. A couch potato on the other hand might just pass it as a waste of time (there’s KFC for him). For subject lovers, there’s nothing like an ocean of relevant content. Make it engaging and you have a fan for lifetime. Take The Dewarist for example (I know that’s programmed content and not a typical ad). But with long copy ads, one step wrong and you have stumbled badly.

Play safe and succinct with crisp communication. As they say, less is indeed more.

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When Parenting Goes Viral

Posted on January 10, 2013 by Harsh Vardhan Dutta

Janell Burley Hofmann was an unknown name till a few days back. Not surprisingly, because she was a cute mother & blogger somewhere in the US who wrote her experiences randomly. What changed her status was the 18-clause code of conduct that she shared with her blog readers – a code of conduct that she had written down for her 13-year-old son who was gifted with an iPhone, but as they say, with “strings attached”. The 18-point “contract” highlights the points that her son must abide to for possessing the all elusive iPhone. Washington Times states that Hoffman’s blog site crashed down after the blog post went wildly viral. If you read the clauses you will know why.

Hoffman gives away points to her son with a mix of reason and common sense. Some of the points are really heartening given that today’s parents are as much to be blamed for exposing their kids to technology where they continuously live under the shadows of their virtual alter-egos (example, facebook profiles). One of her point says,  “Leave your phone home sometimes and feel safe and secure in that decision.  It is not alive or an extension of you.  Learn to live without it.  Be bigger and more powerful than FOMO – fear of missing out.” Another practical and responsible point says, “Keep your eyes up.  See the world happening around you.  Stare out a window.  Listen to the birds.  Take a walk.  Talk to a stranger.  Wonder without googling.”

For me, this is excellent parenting, in an age when parents are continuously striving to make a superman/superwoman out of their kids. How many parents actually encourage their children to look out of the window at the sun and hear the birds chirp? That this blog post has gone viral is a breath of fresh air to parents and children across the world, which has already witnessed technology being misused and all private stuff going unpleasantly and embarrassingly viral. It’s also an eye-opener for those who refuse to look beyond the Internet.

Technology is an enabler. It started like that and that will always be its true nature. When you design, package and attach human emotions on to it, it has the potential to wreak havoc. Haven’t we heard innumerable stories about social profiles being a cause of depression amongst the children? The children of this age are largely affected by the internet revolution, where everything can be clicked and documented, and even a 12-year-old bears the pressure of maintaining an image online. Psychological impacts can be seen in our everyday life. No wonder, sometimes the govt has considered banning social media.

Great Job Mrs. Hoffman. Finally, sensible content has gone viral. You can read the blog post by clicking here

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What 2013 holds for Digital Marketing?

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Harsh Vardhan Dutta

Unfortunately, Nostradamus did not make any predictions for marketers, not that I believe marketing horoscopes can be made and deciphered. 2012, for me, personally was a year when I witnessed more slowdown amongst agencies (either in terms of growth or YoY revenue) but the end of 2012 did throw a few encouraging signs. While most brands expanded their horizons and expanded their digital marketing budget, the news was made when quite a handful digital agencies were acquired by the bigger sharks (okay, I know that’s a rude word when not spoken in boardroom), whether at a good price or not is unknown to a novice like me.

2013 might prove to be watershed year for digital marketers because I feel that companies are waking up to a few things that have been abandoned earlier. In the past few years, clients have realized the critical effect of digital marketing, especially the brands that are targeted at urban consumers. I experienced marketing managers strategizing to integrate their brand’s offline activities with online marketing. Unlike earlier, when the digital and traditional agencies were expected be to divided by the wall, 2013 might see them working better in tandem. In fact, there could be a paradigm shift with digital agencies creating strategies and plans and traditional agencies executing them (how wishful I am). I won’t be surprised because most digital agencies have now begun to focus on the creative side apart from nurturing technological prowess.

The digital ad and marketing spends have risen over the years, and that’s a good sign. 2013 will definitely see a surge in that. From making it to the annual marketing plans to being put in real. In 2012, it was encouraging to see some brands hire digital marketing specialists and social media specialists to focus on the new medium. 2013 would definitely see more brands replicating that and handing over digital duties to experts. Another good news for digital agencies.

Overall, I see two 2013 making news for the following two: 1) watch for more acquisitions and mergers 2) Definite emergence of social media from brand point of view.

May 2013 be a win-win-win for client-agency-consumer.

Amen.

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4 Things You Can’t Miss in a Digital Marketing Pitch

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Harsh Vardhan Dutta

It’s happened with me quite a few times, and it still happens. Right after making a pitch, I figure out a few elements that could have been incorporated to make a better impact on the prospective client. I am specifically talking about digital marketing pitches here, and in my cases, to quite a few, for who studying digital marketing was as good or bad as being introduced to advanced quantum physics.

Let’s take a look at a few things you can’t miss in a digital marketing pitch:

a)    About the Prospective Client: Well, that’s common to marketing pitches for all mediums. Understand everything about the prospective client: size, presence, products/services, management, age, USP, market share, revenues.

b)    SWOT Analysis: It is a critical component. The agency must gauge the presence-activities-results that brand has generated online. The agency must remember that the prospective client is looking for an agency change/agency for a reason. If the agency can come close to the reason, then pitch can be tailormade perfectly. Also, nothing pleases the prospective client more than hitting the nail on its head, as far as the analysis is concerned. Having said that, don’t get carried away. When it comes to digital marketing, Google analytics, social outreach Vs potential table/graph can get you closer.

c)    Make a measured mash-up: Digital marketing pitches are about mash-ups. Of course, you cannot have an equal weightage of everything. Basis brief from the prospective client, lean more on strategies that help get desired results. Don’t just go for social media because every one is talking about it. Also, break the clutter and integrate digital and offline if possible.

d)    Blend Technology & Creativity: In Indian landscape, I have come across many IT companies-turned-digital agencies. On the other hand, traditional agencies going digital. In quite a few cases, there’s a lack of judicious blend of technology and creativity. The balance is necessary. As an agency, create that blend to make a high-impact pitch.

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What India searched on YouTube in 2012

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Harsh Vardhan Dutta

A recent press release by Google India only highlights our obsession with Bollywood and popular music. The most watched video on YouTube (India) in 2012 was Yo Yo Honey Singh’s Brown Rang Te followed by Korean sensation PSY’s Ghangham Style. Out of the following 8, 7 are either Bollywood songs or film trailers. Following the trend on channel subscriptions, T Series is the most subscribed channel followed by SetIndia and YRF. For soap lovers, popular daily Bade Achche Lagte Hai is at no 1.

Here is the complete list:

Top trending YouTube videos in India (playlist) – 2012

1      Brown Rang Full Song HD- International Villager YoYo Honey Singh

2      PSY – GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일) M/V

3      Mashallah – Song – EkTha Tiger – Salman Khan & Katrina Kaif

4      HIGH HEELS OFFICIAL VIDEO – JAZ DHAMI FT YO YO HONEY SINGH

5      Tumhi Ho Bandhu – Song Promo – Cocktail [Exclusive]

6      Jab TakHaiJaan – Trailer – Film releasing November 13

7      Jism 2 YehJism Song | Sunny Leone, Arunnoday Singh, RandeepHooda |

8      Saans – Song – Jab TakHaiJaan

9      DaaruDesi – Song Promo – Cocktail (Exclusive)

10   Chinta Ta Ta Chita Chita – Rowdy Rathore Official Full Song Video Akshay Kumar, SonakshiSinha, Mika

Most subscribed channels (2012):

1      TSeries

2      SetIndia

3      Yrf

4      Erosentertainment

5      Rajshri

6      Teluguone

7      SonymusicindiaSME

8      Mtvroadies

9      Olympic

10   Maatv

Most watched songs (2012):

1      Brown Rang Full Song HD- International Villager YoYo Honey Singh

2      PSY – GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일) M/V

3      Mashallah – Song – EkTha Tiger – Salman Khan & Katrina Kaif

4      HIGH HEELS OFFICIAL VIDEO – JAZ DHAMI FT YO YO HONEY SINGH

5      Jism 2 YehJism Song | Sunny Leone, Arunnoday Singh, RandeepHooda | Exclusive

6      Saans – Song – Jab TakHaiJaan

7      Chinta Ta Ta Chita Chita – Rowdy Rathore Official Full Song Video Akshay Kumar, SonakshiSinha, Mika

8      “AbhiAbhiJism 2″ Official Song  | Sunny Leone, Arunnoday Singh, RandeepHooda

9      IshqWala Love – Student Of The Year – The Official Song | HQ

10   Challa – Song – Jab TakHaiJaan

Most watched TV Shows (2012):

1      Bade AccheLagteHai

2      Taarak Mehta KaOoltahChashmah

3      Kahani Comedy Circus Ki

4      Crime Patrol

5      Devon KeDev… Mahadev

6      CID

7      Movie Night

8      Totally Sketch Originals

9      Adaalat

10   FIR

Most watched movie trailers (2012):

1      Jab TakHaiJaan – Trailer – Film releasing November 13

2      EK THA TIGER – Teaser Trailer – Salman Khan – Releasing 15th August 2012

3      Heroine – Official Trailer – KareenaKapoor | ArjunRampal | RandeepHooda

4      Cocktail – Theatrical Trailer (Exclusive)

5      Talaash Theatrical Trailer – Official – Starring Aamir Khan, KareenaKapoor, Rani Mukerji

6      Khiladi 786 – Official Teaser Trailer [Exclusive]

7      Son Of Sardaar | Official Theatrical Trailer

8      Rowdy Rathore | Official Trailer | Akshay Kumar – SonakshiSinha

9      Hate Story Uncensored Theatrical Trailer (Official) 2012

10   Raaz 3 Official Trailer

Here’s how Google puts its way to ranking:

This year, we looked not just at views, but also shares, searches, likes and responses to identify the 10 videos that everybody was talking about in 2012.  On YouTube people don’t just view a popular video, they remix, share, and parody, building a fan community that extends far beyond the watch page. We took all of this into account to ensure we truly captured the “watercooler moments” of the year.    

 

 

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