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Festive Digital Excitement

I am not complaining, but yesterday I received 38 SMS on my mobile, 11 wall comments on Facebook, 19 direct messages to my Inbox, 49 email,  and 7 e-card greetings – all wishing me a very Happy Diwali.

Last month, on my birthday, I received – and again, I am not complaining – over 80 wall posts on Facebook alone, besides the countless SMS and email, wishing me countless happiness and success.

While my mobile phone constantly buzzing can be a bit annoying, the posts on my wall, and the sheer number of greetings certainly got my ego whizzing.

How nice ~ so many people took the trouble to wish me. And I took the trouble to reply to every one of the over 100 people who wished me on my birthday. And I will eventually get down to replying to everyone for the Diwali messages!

So much effort, despite the so little time we have spare in our lives today. But then I realize, thanks to the new digital media we have at our disposal today, people actually love doing this!

People love sending out those SMS and wall posts, letting you know they remember, and letting you know they care. What’s more, its effortless, takes less than 30 seconds to think and send, and costs virtually nothing!

This leads to what I will now call FDE: Festive Digital Excitement

Festive Digital Excitement is quite simply defined as festive excitement fueled by digital media – and it manifests in five different ways:

1. Pavlovian FDE
This is FDE that’s prompted by technology and the medium. Example, you sign into Facebook and notice on your right “Events – Oneofmy Friendski’s birthday”, or you see an update that says “Another Postwalla wrote on Friendski’s wall for his birthday”… and you click on the link, and it takes you to a form where you enter “Heyy happy birthday! have a good one!” ~ Tada!! there’s your Pavlovian Festive Digital Excitement!

2. Faked FDE
This is FDE indulged by people you don’t or hardly know,  but have somehow landed up on your “friend” list, or on their “mailing list”. This includes people like the headhunter who’s never met you, but has heard of you and managed to get onto your facebook; this includes the property dealer who got your email off your RWA address book;

3. Relationship FDE
This is the FDE exhibited by your bank, your insurance agent, your travel agent, your AC, TV and mobile phone manufacturer… basically birthday or festive greetings sent by whoever you filled up a form for – Warranty Card, Visitors Book, Feedback Form, etc. Always automated, you can bet your life this is one of those made-by-machine-untouched-by-man “warmest greetings from ColdCorporation” Yeah, right. Like my bank has a heart, and its feelings are overflowing from both email and sms servers!

4. Wtf FDE
This is the really bizarre Festive Digital Excitement, and usually comes to you via SMS: “Dearest Nosh, Wishing you and your family a very happy diwali!” …and then blank… no name, and no, you don’t have this number saved. So you go “who the f* is this??” I even get similar sounding email with no names at the end, only an address like clevercatsomething@gmail… or somethingboilercompany@hotmail… Hello! if this is a personalised email, at least put down your real name!! As I said before: *wtf*

5. Hearfelt FDE
Okay, this is the real deal, the real McCoy. Personalised SMS or Email on festivals, starting with your name “Dear Nosh…”. Posts to your wall with interesting, or insightful greetings “Hey, Happy Birthday… And don’t worry, life begins at 40!”. Messages to your Inbox with a note and other news and questions. The birthday SMS at the stroke of midnight or thereabouts. And of course, the most heartfelt of all… the ones with voice – “Hiii Nosh… Happy Birthday… I hope I am not interrupting your party, but I had to wish you in person. I wish I could have been in India this year too, like I was for your birthday last year!” Of course, one can always tell when the greeting qualifies for this category, and clearly, it is the most preferred and treasured of the lot!

So there you have it, my own take, on my own new term: Festive Digital Excitement. The truth is, its all around us, and it is spreading.

PS. My dad, who is a complete technophobe, spent all of last week figuring out if his mobile phone (he finally ditched his landline for a ‘cell’ this year, at age 76!) allowed him to send the same message to different people. And after I showed him, he started at 7 am on Diwali morning excited as a child – he composed, added numbers, and sent his SMS greetings to 12 of his buddies across the country! Now that’s excitement!

Continue reading »]]> Today someone forwarded me the following text, on my BBM (that’s short for Blackberry Messenger, for those not from this planet). It’s insightful, and makes people laugh ~ especially the die-hard Crackberrys!

How BBmessenger Has Changed Us:
~ This is sooo truee!!

• You check your phone before you even wake up
• Ignoring people has become your forte
• Living alone is no longer lonely
• You wake up from a long night partying with no memory but hey it’s okay! Your bbm has a record of what happened because
• you wrote to someone every time you did something stupid
• You now have typing as a skill on your CV
• No need for a high school reunion because even your second grade maths teacher is on your list
• Everyone’s a comedian all of a sudden
• Your thumbs developed new muscles!
• You now have a BBM boyfriend/girlfriend  to add to the list
• No one has time for you yet they can update their status every 3 mins
• Your social life just became a lot more social‎
• When your battery runs out you’ll sell your liver for a charger, heck you’ll even help them cut it out
• It is no longer necessary to read the newspaper or watch the news, they just can’t keep up
• Gossip travels at the speed of type
• You know every time someones taking a shit or feels like shit because regular status updates are a must
• Your legs go numb or your back starts hurting cause you’ve been sitting in the same exact position for so long BBM’ing
• You anciently laugh out loud in public
• AND facebook no longer seems so important! Who would have thought?

It’s a BB world now…:)=)) =D
Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone

Okay, so that’s the fun part, insightful and being forwarded and shared via BBM even as we speak. However, I am not here to praise and laugh. Rather, I am here to play spoil sport, and ask some uncomfortable questions, point out some very obvious negatives of BBM’ing..!

Here’s my “How BBMessenger Has Really Screwed Us” or BBM truths you need to know!
~ This is sooo true

• You are constantly checking your phone, and not allowing yourself to relax
• You have a misplaced sense of urgency that forces you to respond to BBM no matter what you are doing or where you are
• BBM’ing when in company is as bad as talking on the phone when in company
• People are not interested in talking to the top of your head
• We now know that the incessant buzzing in our ears, is not a house fly, but someone BBM’ing in the vicinity
• Accidentally laughing out loud in public is not cute or funny after the first couple of times
• You can spot the real losers in your life by the amount of time they have, to BBM you, especially during work hours on weekdays!

There you have it – my issues with BBM. But don’t get me wrong, I am not trashing the technology. Because technology is only as good or bad as the people who use it – or misuse it!

So BBM this if you like, to all on your list, and even “conference” it. See who smiles and agrees; see who whacks you and loses “contact” with you!

Related Post: From Mike LaMonica’s Blog ~ Would You Answer a Text During Sex?

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Lalu Yadav is now officially my favourite turnaround artist. From being the political icon of one of India’s most backward states, and the butt of many jokes just a couple of years back, the man with the i’ll-do-what-i-like attitude has, as Rail Minister of the Government of India, managed to kick ass and is doing things we never thought the Indian Railways (IR) were capable of!

Admittedly he (and IR) has a long way to go, but the gentleman is on the right track if you ask me.

Among the many new initiatives at IR that have caught my attention, are the ones involving technology and are meant to improve our interations and usage of IR. Note I said “are meant” because while a lot of them are in place, a lot of them don’t work as they’re meant to.

But that’s got less to do with the man’s ideas and intent, and more to do thick-headedness that still exists down the line at IR, as well as to do with the ignorance of the common man who attempts to use these technologies.

Here are a few of the initiatives, and the way they stand today:

1. E-ticketing – A great initiative and even though I’ve officially complained about it, I believe the intent is right. The guys that run the site need to get their act together in terms of a) a better UI and b) a smoother, more adaptive shopping cart.

2. Ticket Vending Machines - A great way to save time, especially for buying platform tickets. But the machines they use are rigid (you need exact change in the exact denominations) and temperamental (coins are almost never accepted at first go, and sometimes you give up because it refuses all the coins you put into it!).

3. Electronic Displays - A lot of the larger stations have electronic displays that give you information arrivals, departures, location of specific coaches, etc. If only the people that man these systems update them on time with the right information.

Here are some of the proposed initiatives – where I see scope for Public-Private-Partnerships and opportunities for corporate sponsorship and advertising:

1. Satellite TV aboard trains - Entertainment, besides the loud prattle of the guy in the next compartment is most welcome on long journeys. Of course, they have to come with mandatory headphones and privacy settings. A better/cheaper idea would be to place content with advertising the way we see on airplanes, and at various malls and other public areas today.

2. Onboard Internet - A fabulous idea. Not sure though, if it will be via an internet-cafe-coach, or wifi access throughout the train. Hopefully they should provide both methods.  Telecom companies like Vodafone, or Reliance should sponsor this and keep it free for users. Win-win all around.

3. Mobile Ticketing - The mobile wallet will get a boost, with the abilility to buy tickets via sms. Only it cannot be the way it exists today for ATM ticketing, where you have to be an account holder of a particular public sector bank to use the service! Regardless, what an idea, sirji!

4. Energy Saving CFL lighting - Another great idea, if it can be implemented. Are you listening Reliance Energy and Philips?

Admittedly, there is much more that needs to be done for the common man. The biggest issue to my mind is hygiene. Our platforms and tracks are so crappy (pun intended), its shameful. And every time I visit a station it makes me wonder where the priorities lie, of people/political parties that raise ridiculous issues like the dangers of colas! Hello ~ more people visit platforms and are exposed to more serious health hazards here, than there are people who drink colas with the health risks you imagine!

Which is why, it’s heartening to note that there are plans to introduce emission-free ‘green toilets’ in all trains by 2010!

In summary, marketers and advertisers better pack your bags for this bandwagon. Because going by the track record of Shri Lalu Prasad and the Indian Railways over the past couple of years, we can safely assume, that the above plans ain’t bullshit!

Continue reading »]]> The day before yesterday I booked a couple of train tickets online at the Indian Railways online reservation site. Thinking all along (until I booked the tickets) that this giant slowpoke elephant (thanks or no thanks to Lalu Prasad Yadav) had finally come of age – technology age.

Nope. It has not come of age. It is going through an awkward adolescence phase.

Allow me to explain.

Right from the start it showed signs of trouble, which I, a veteran of internet transactions should have spotted. But no, the idiot that I was deluded by my confidence in technology, trudged on- or should I say ‘swiped on’ – waving my plastic weapon of convenience – my citibank credit card.

This following points will demonstrate why Indian Railways still have a long way to go, and why I will think a dozen times before I go back there…

• Log In- For some reason it doesn’t take the Correct Username and Password the first time, and then inexplicably, it accepts it at the second or third try!
• Choosing Destinations – Sure it has a simple choose destination box. But it only works if you know how the babusat Indian Railways chose to spell the place’s name. For example, if you’re looking for Hazrat Nizamuddin, it won’t show. After trying various combinations I discovered you need to type h nizamuddin for it to pick up the station!
• Availability Unknown- Due to the sheer size of online transactions that could happen at one time, I was prepared to find that the berths available when I search, could be gone when I actually start ‘booking’. But the ridiculous thing is, you only know if you’ve got a reserved seat or not, after you’ve paid up the money! So there I was some three thousand odd rupess down on my card, to discover that my parents were wait listed at 23 and 24!
• Change Trains or Dates – Does it let you switch trains or or dates if something is not available or waitlisted, before it gobbles your money – Ha Ha! Are you kidding??!!

But that’s not all – the worst is yet to be described!

Before the above happened, I had to deal with some stupid programming options – which again cost me the ticket amount once more!

Options – You think you’ve got an option to choose “book only if all seats are in the same compartment” “book only if all my berth requests are met”, think again! If you select the option and the same compartment or berth requests aren’t available, you will be bounced back with a “sorry, couldn’t book because your options weren’t met, or there was a communication error – but (burp) thank you for your money anyway, we will return it to you soon (hopefully!)”

Citibank is usually very good when it comes to errors on internet transactions, and I have had failed transaction money promptly returned to me, even before the issue is resolved with the vendor. How will it be when Indian Railways technology is concerned..?

God only knows. And by God, I don’t mean Bill Gates.

Note: The “wait-listed tickets” arrived at my doorstep last night by Overnight Express courier – less than 36 hours from the time of booking, as promised. Now I wait for my refund of the failed transaction. 

Continue reading »]]> Here’s an interesting error report I just came across while surfing the ‘net!

It made light of the moment and got me to talk about it, rather than complain and curse!

The site name has been blurred to protect the identity of…. well err, me. Because this is like national television and I don’t want you to know where I’ve been looking

Continue reading »]]> Most companies are a treasure house of information and knowledge. Case studies, Client Backgrounds, Industry Knowledge, Tools & Techniques, Industry Best Practices – they all exist in every organisation in some form or another – but this knowledge remains a closely guarded secret in dusty folders,  in archived files on various hard disks, and more often than not remain on someone’s personal computer to keep as if it was their own, and take away when they leave the organisation!

This secrecy and lack of sharing isn’t the result of any top level strategy to prevent misuse of information, but pure blindness to the value it can bring to the entire organisation; coupled with the laziness of not wanting to take on another project that isn’t holding a gun to your head and saying “do me or else..!”

The fact that knowledge is power, and history is a great teacher is forgotten in many large organisations today. And organisations that don’t know where they’re coming from, are quite likely to be walking blind into the future - often attempting to reinvent perspectives and answers that already exist.

Fortunately, technology in the form of an intranet allows companies to organise and share this information within their company easily, and in real time.

Unfortunately, most companies do not have an intranet. And even those who have taken the leap, aren’t using an intranet to its full potential.

Here’s my list of things companies do with intranets, and some things they should do:

Level 1 – The Basics

• Online Knowledge Bank - with industry/category reports, best practices, tools & techniques. Updated of course, on a regular basis.
• Case studies – from within your industry, drawn from various sources – used as a reference library for what worked, what did not
• Organisation Information – History, Vision, Mission, Goals
• Bulletin Board – The intranet can be used to update everyone in the company with news, changes in policy, successes, losses, etc on a regular basis in a most cost efficient and effective manner

Level 2 – Admin Stuff

• Tools Library – Storage and sharing of common tools across the organisation
• Stationery – Standardised templates for electronic files of MS Word and Powerpoint (or whatever) can be stored online for use across the board, maintaining corporate identity at all times. This includes documents like templates for Reports, Briefs, Updates, and anything that is used repeatedly.

Level 3 – HR Related

• Employee Records – You can store updated information of employees with regard to Attendance, Leave Records, Bills Claimed/Pending, etc on an intranet.
• Feel Good Factor – HR departments can use the intranet for ‘feelgood’ efforts like announcing birthdays and other important employee celebrations. It can be used to profile talent and achievements of people, even beyond their scope of work and the company.
• Forums – Intranets can be used as an open forum for discussion among employees. It can be used as a brainstorming place to constantly seek out new ideas related to the business of the organisation. It can also be used for interactivity between various levels in the organisation – for example, an “Ask the Boss” section!

(For example IBM has an amazing online JAM program, that is not only doing wonders for employee morale, it is also throwing up great ideas for the company, and believe it or not, has grown into an awesome value added service for a lot of its clients!)

Level 4 – Basic Accounting

• Vouchers – One of the most painful activities for most people is filling in vouchers, submitting them and then waiting for their approval. All this can be automated to run from each individual’s desktop, and get approved likewise. I used an SAP driven system when I worked at Samsung, and found it took all the pain out of submitting vouchers, as well as approving tonnes of them submitted to me every week! And there’s nothing like receiving an email that says – “Travel Expense approved, amount credited to your account”!

Level 5 – Client/Partner Interface

• The intranet can also be used as a great tool for client and 3rd party interface. This of course requires much more advanced technology than your conventional intranet. However it is a fabulous way of keeping all stakeholders up to date on various jobs/issues, that too in real time.

Now all this is still the basic stuff. You can go on to doing billing, order taking, delivery tracking, and process audits of whatever it is your business involves, using various dimensions of an intranet… the list is endless.

But first you’ve got to make a start, in whatever small way you can. Just keep in mind this simple truth – “The challenges of implementation and growth are not related to technology, but clearly related mindsets”

Continue reading »]]> In a rare post on his blog that is sans cuss-words, the intrepid George Parker republished an article written by him 6 years back, on the triumph and failure of information and communication technology during 9/11.

In a well thought out piece originally written for a magazine called Technology Marketing published by Adweek, George Parker insightfully examines how technology helped and where technology failed, where technology came up to expectations and where it did not – while carefully and sensitively navigating the emotions surrounding the horrific events of that day.

Read the article here. Hats off to you once again, George Parker!

Continue reading »]]> Noshtradamus is supposed to be a blog where i stargaze about communication, strategy, talent and new media in the new world. I write my posts keeping that in mind – or at least that’s what I think I’m doing!

Call it lack of proper focus, or call it the unpredictability of the internet www – whacky wide web – the fact is my visitor stats throw up different and interesting facts.

A large number of people find my blog through search engines. And the top “keywords” have been:

• Julie Roehm pictures
• Superbikes India
• Advertising
• Honda superbikes
• Indian Economy
• Bill Rylance
• Santosh Desai
• bates
• cricket.

Alternately, the technorati tags that bring people here are advertising, public relations, media and cricket. 

While I have actually wanted people looking for most of the above to land up at my blog, keywords like cricket and superbikes aren’t on my list of priority… at least not in the context that my search engine visitors were looking for.

You see:

a) the focus of my post was Indian bike brands and their marketing issues – not about ‘where superbikes are available in India’, or about ‘bad roads’.

b) i’ve written two posts on bikes, plenty about others, but bikes are right up there in terms of popularity.

c) i have received more hits from users looking for ‘cricket’ and ‘ICC world cup’ than I have on the bates-david-enterprise merger (despite just one post on cricket, more on the merger)

The point I’m making is, no matter how much we try, the www will do its own thing. There is no such thing as being able to accurately predict what will happen on the internet.

In the context of using the internet for strategic brand communication, admittedly there are trends, cycles, popular sentiment and what not… but there is no real formula for success.

No one, and no technology can give you the accurate results you’d want as a brand manager, or reputation custodian.

To draw a parallel, you can be the perfect driver and drive carefully following all the rules, but nothing can stop an accident, if the person on the other side doesn’t know, or follow the rules…

And the other point is, what’s out there on the net, and the perception around you or your brand, varies depending upon who’se point of view you’re looking at.

For example, if you do a blog search for say, Bill Rylance, you’ll reach my blog here, in perhaps the top 20 results. And read a very complimentary post/opinion.

But if you search for cricket and indian advertising, you will land at my blog here… and get all the negatives associated with it!

And the two can be blissfully unaware of the reputation (good and bad) being built online, by this simple unpredictable fact of the internet.

Should Brands step out in the www and do something about their reputations online… yes, certainly!

Is there a right answer or correct solution to the problems faced by brands on the internet..? If you need an answer to this… you need to start reading this post all over again.

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The internet is this humungous dynamic place with loads of information that enlightens people all over the world, and helps grown ups do their jobs better, children learn better, and all people communicate better. Right?

I’d like to agree that this holds true across the board. But somehow the latest google annual search trends report, has me a bit disillusioned.

Why?

Because the Google 2006 Year End Zeitgeist reflects what people all over the world are looking for on the net. And guess what tops the list of all “news searches” on the net? Paris Hilton. Yeh. Followed by Orlando Bloom. Yeh again. And the top 10 list includes Martina Hingis (at 7) and Big Brother 2006 (at 10).

Is this what occupies the minds of netizens worldwide??

Well I do feel a little reassured as we go down the list, and find more meaningful, search words – cancer, hurricane katrina, bankruptcy, autism… But hang on – these are all words with negative connotations, of ill-health and disasters!

Don’t people look for anything positive? Don’t people look for things like “investment opportunity” “making friends” “better parenting” or any such things? 

For example – Google also gives each one of us a history of our own searches, provided we’ve done them logged into a google account and have cookies enabled.

Here’s what my own recent search history throws up:

Luc de Brabandere (he’s an author and consultant with BCG), CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), hands (don’t remember what on earth this was about?!), Raytheon (was planning to buy a Hawker… just kidding) Meta tags (part of my learning curve), Mitch Kapor (creator of Lotus 1-2-3 and now open source evangelist), Tera Patrick (hmm… pornstar, NSFW), indian industry, davos, and Eminem (yeh i think he’s cool!).

The point to note is, I actually use the net for work and research, while most people use it for entertainment. I also think most people look for Paris Hilton and such because that’s what they hear people are looking at… and most importantly people do not know what they can actually find on the net (but more on that later).

Google’s Zeitgeist also tracks searches by “what’s hot” “current events” “milestones” “entertainment” and “sport“. Here the results are not surprising:

• Under “what’s hot” we interesting queries under heads like “define”, “who is”, “what is”… but the most hilarious searches have happened under “how to…” There’s how to levitate, how to kickflip, how to draw, and get this, even how to scream!!
• Iraq, North Korea, and Iran occupy top slots in “current events”
• The rest of the categories are clearly North America and entertainment driven. But it’s good to see that people here are actually using the net to find tickets, show dates and times, sports results, with “olympics” and “world cup” related stuff driving the numbers – clearly vindicating the stand of all those who are using the net to complement their sales and marketing efforts.

Is that it? Well no. All those who are familiar with the report will realise I’ve left the most potent news for the last.

In the main google.com (not news specific) search trends, we clearly see where the net is headed. With 7 of the 10 top slots being occupied by user-generated media – bebo, myspace, metacafe, radioblogs, wikipedia, mininova, and wiki.

And if you scan the whole lot of search categories, you’ll notice that the three keywords that show up consistently are “wikis”, “podcasting” and “blog”.

Now that’s reassuring.

Because it’s obvious that the world is not only moving to a more dynamic way of communication, it is giving more people a voice and stage. It also indicates, that it’s the internet and user-generated media that will hold the key to the future of brands, and their reputation.

Also see: Blogging India Means Business.

Continue reading »]]> When I tell people that I help companies understand new media, and how to use it to their benefit, most people look at me and say – “by new media you mean the internet, right..? what else is there??!”.

In the beginning, I used to get stumped by the ignorance behind this assumption. I used to be apalled by the fact that even seasoned communication professionals in advertising and public relations think:

a) there’s nothing more to new age communication than the internet, and

b) that there’s nothing more to the internet than websites, banner ads and email!

Well, yes there is more, and I will attempt to briefly summarise what I know and share as part of my day job.

In my mind “New Media” is anything that can be used as a tool for communication with new age consumers and audiences. It just so happens that the internet occupies a huge part of their lives, followed by the omnipresent and omnipotent mobile phone… that’s new media too!

In fact as much as we use tools born out of new technologies, I would classify innovations in conventional media as new media too. As long as they acquire the dynamism that can match the unpredictable free-flowing behavioral and consumption patterns of our audiences today.

So portable billboards that follow their audiences, rejuvinated conventional radio channels, cell broadcasts, multimedia streaming by bluetooth to handheld devices… they all are new media.

And when it comes to the internet, the usual suspects like websites, chat rooms and blogs aside, you should look at social networking groups, messenger services, wikis, and community generated hang outs – like youtube. The list is endless and evolving even as you read this post.

The amazing thing about new media, is also that it’s a great internal communication tool. For example, did you know:

1. That you can make real time, online Powerpoint presentations with sound and you speaking to anyone, anywhere in the world, using MSN Messenger… which is actually yours to download for free!

2. That you can make audio visuals that look and sound as good as a slickly produced film, using MS Powerpoint?

3. That you needn’t invest in any expensive Intranets and/or ERP systems, if you simply change mindsets and create of culture checking and responding to email promptly?

I’m just skimming the surface here… really! You won’t believe it, but most of us use our PCs (or a Mac) like we use our minds – at just about 3% of their actual potential or capacity! And to maximise the potential of your PC, you don’t need any fancy computer science degrees. You just need the desire to learn, supported by a whole lot of curiosity.

Think about it. Explore that PC on your desktop or lap. But if that’s too much to ask, you know who to call!

.