William is a working executive from Singapore. 34 years of age, he is a first generation Singaporean and works in advertising. Like many his age, he is internet proficient and a voracious technology user . Married with a lovely wife Raji and their two little children- like many from his and Raji’s generation, he and his family splurge on anything that aids convenience, status, productivity and entertainment.  

Surrounded with multiple screens, breezing through the onslaught of new gadgets & technologies and constantly connected, they are a part of a generation that lives with an excess of choices.

The ubiquitous presence and frantic pace of technology today is overpowerful and sometimes overwhelming. This somehow defines an era of change, yet what it does not appropriately depict is- a society’s and its denizens’ perspective, predispositions, character and behavior.

And it is precisely this change of perspective that delivers an overarching impact on present and future generations- their way of working, and the society’s rules, laws and values. 

We hold that thought and come back to the generation of William and Raji.

(And I define a generation not limited by an age group bracket- I define a generation as a set of people living in the same period of time, with access to similar resources and ability to use them. This puts 32 year old William alongside  a 16 year old kid from a well earning metropolis breeding family, even though they are a generation apart in terms of age)

There is something unique about today’s generation of globally exposed, nuclear family bred, high income, well educated lot. They want access to everything. The fact that something is not within reach is just not acceptable to this group.

These are the strong headed opinionated people that do not accept the boundaries of technology, geography, processes, systems, or even intellectual properties  and even legal boundaries.

But wait a minute- I am not talking about evil hackers or rebellious mindless zealots.

They are a different type of people and account for an increasingly increasing economically significant group.

And this is what makes them stand apart:

• They do not believe in hacking, they believe in hacks.
• They do not want stuff for free- if they value something, they pay for it
• They don’t just break in to the system- they find a way around it.

And this is the lot that is giving rise to a new economy. The circumvention economy.

Picture this:

William has a penchant for US TV dramas. There is something about watching them at the same day they are aired on US Telly. He tried using Hulu- but there are restrictions. As a user not in the US, Hulu is not allowed to show those shows to people outside the US. William has a few choices- 

• Use  a web based proxy serivce in the US (this has its limitations added to the fact that proxies don’t like the weight of streaming heavy video files)
• Try out online sites that have links to various TV shows (no guarantees there)
• Search the parallel market (torrents) or buy a pirated version from the parallel market.

Not surprisingly, these are not what William wants. He does not want bad quality versions and he can’t wait. More importantly, he is not willing to accept that a choice (getting good quality content at his time and terms) is denied to him. He takes another route.

He circumvents Hulu (and the system). He installs a VPN  (pays $70 odd a year for this service) and tricks Hulu into thinking he is logged in from the US. The programme acts as a virtual ISP- masks his IP- circumvents the system by using a US IP. It could also encrypt data coming to and fro from your client machine.

In a contrast to another system where web users are branded as free loaders- here he pays extra to consume content he wants. He pays Hulu for an account + pay for the VPN service just to get access to watch all the series whenever he wants to!

He abets the Circumvention economy. Illegal? Not sure. Acceptable? Surely.

After all, his friends do it for getting music all the time. And they even pay extra to get a newly released device not available in their markets.

His wife Raji gets to play too. She likes Korean dramas (even if she does not speak the language) and sure enough, gets access to content that she wants.

In another scenario, Raji likes a dress from Japan. She had visited a Japanese website and must have that dress. (Ah! Japanese fashion!). She whips out her credit card on an impulse. And then gets what felt like a ‘karate chop’ shocker. The store does not ship the dress in Singapore.

 She gives an indignant expression. And proceeds to vpost.com.sg- a (postal/delivery) service that has logistical arms in Japan. She creates an account, gets an ID (VP number) – checks out on the shopping cart at the japanese site with her VP number and a japanese physical address. She then sends off a soft copy of the invoice she receives from the Japanese shopping site to VPost. VPost then processes her order, and ships the item at her doorstep. Of course with costs attached- but no worries- at least she gets the access.

There are a few more examples demonstrating this trend- will write about them later.

The key is that is a trend (not un-noticed but certainly un-categorized- and I thought I’d classify this trend first) and it has value for Brands and companies marketing their products. It has psychological significance, anthropological and sociological significance, technological significance and sure enough- economical significance.

Do you know any more?

Think About it

Shalabh

Privileged to be chairing a day at Social Media World Forum for 23rd September in Singapore.

Will write more about it- though for starters- here is my Introduction note for the day:

===========================

Welcome to the second day of immersing within the Social Media environment.

The Media and Marketing industry is undergoing a paradigm shift, and a quick and clear understanding of the opportunities available today and those shaping tomorrow is extremely important and challenging at the same time. In the course of this two day immersion schedule, you will surely get a flavor of what are some of these opportunities and how to make maximum use of them.

I am excited at chairing the second day of this conference. Social Media has moved beyond the initial introductory stage and has fast climbed the ladder of new media adoption hierarchy. The wide scale interest is converting into adoption and business impacting processes are being developed and deployed regularly.

This discipline has fast become a part of mainstream marketing and the ‘social’ thinking within marketing now spans beyond customer service and ‘buzz’ to more marketing functions like CRM and even demand generation. The social media discipline is also disrupting business models- especially on the agency side. It is redefining the traditional agency outlook and is forcing everyone to ‘think digital’.  Or rather ‘think social’.

The Media industry is obviously feeling a ‘shake-up’ at this point of time, and many media companies are transforming themselves to better incorporate the social element. The ‘social media’ aspect has had impact on technologies too and newer ‘social’ led technologies are to be seen in the near future with integration with television, mobile and across multimedia content platforms.

Asian markets are at a forefront of this revolution. Asian users are creating content and participating in group and personal communication in their own unique ways and across mediums. This landscape is unique – and some models are now shaping global adoption and business models.

From my perspective, the interplay of various elements within the marketing mix is what excites me and understanding the impact of each new medium on overall marketing objectives is my pet topic.

We will discuss all of this in today’s conference. I look forward to hearing thoughts and opinions from industry thought leaders and young executives. Their opinions and understanding shapes the future of this medium and so do your opinions and understanding.

Wish you all the best in sharing and indulging in meaningful conversations throughout the day.

Shalabh Pandey

@shalabhpandey

Just caught up with Sean Rach, Prudential Corporation Asia’s Director of Media & Corporate Events over email (with help and prompted by their PR agency Burson Marsteller)

Discussions started with the fact that Prudential had launched an iPhone application on retirement planning- the first insurance company in Asia to launch a mobile phone application as a marketing platform.

I found the concept interesting- specially with the perspective that it is a first in the industry, though I’d say the real deal will be how the concept is extended and moves forward.  Media is where people attention shifts to- and marketers need to quickly adopt their marketing to fit the new tools.

Alongside, think I need to migrate quickly to the voice/video based Brainstorms as they allow for taking a more conversational approach and a more dialogue based interaction- but here it is- perspectives from Sean on his (and Prudential’s) viewpoint towards Digital Media:

What are the key challenges to the insurance industry today and how can the digital medium help mitigate those challenges?

In keeping with our brand credo – - “Always Listening, Always Understanding” – - we understand that consumers and our customers are using digital media everyday in many ways. We are exploring ways that we can appropriately reach out to prospects, as well as, serve our customers through our digital platforms. As we have a very large agent network, digital media is becoming key in providing our agents with the latest customer information, product details, and training.

Could you elaborate on why and how the idea of the ‘Retirement calculator’ iPhone app was conceived? What exactly are the main points it is trying to address and how has the audience reaction been till now? There are many insurance calculators/retirement planning tools on the internet- could you elaborate what is special about migrating an app like this to the mobile web? (going beyond the fantastic point that it is a first in Asia)

Background and key points

The “What’s Your Number?” Retirement Calculator is an evolution of PCA’s existing – and very successful – “What’s Your Number?” retirement campaign, which was established to address growing retirement protection needs across Asia.  Prudential is committed to helping people understand that careful planning is critical for a carefree retirement – people need to understand what their retirement goal should be and how to get there.

Migration to mobile

Seeking to reach people via mobile is natural given the penetration and usage of mobile phones in Asia – in most markets much more than the penetration of the internet. Mobile marketing via SMS is a very common and effective way of reaching out to prospects, customers and even our agents.

We developed this application as a “branded utility”, which aims to drive greater awareness and understanding about the importance of retirement planning. Taking learnings from our web-based calculators, we have sought to create an intuitive way to determine your “retirement number” – the first step to effective retirement planning.

In testing, we found that by placing this calculator in their hands, we allow users to determine a range of scenarios that they might consider. This is the power of mobile – the most personal form of media.

Audience reaction

As we have recently launched the application, we are receiving comments on a daily basis. Most users find it very user friendly and surprisingly comprehensive. It has been noted that it has started conversations among family members and increased the realization that a retirement plan is needed.

What are some of the other ways in which you are using the digital medium for marketing purposes? (It could be anything related to branding awareness, customer engagement, agent empowerment or closing sales) How do you measure success for these activities?

Prudential has for some time sought to leverage digital media. Whether with consumer websites, extranets, intranet, email newsletter, or sms, we recognize the opportunity to reach out and appropriately communicate using these media.

Measurement is key to any form of marketing, especially digital marketing in the financial services industry. We use a range of web and mobile analytics tools to monitor and optimize the success of our campaigns. Digital media, as the most measurable media platform, provides a valuable listening opportunity for Prudential.

What roles did your various agencies play in developing this app?

To develop this application, we worked with a team from both OgilvyOne and Cherrypicks.- – with OgilvyOne taking the creative lead and Cherrypicks leading the technical implementation.

What role do you think the various ‘types’ of agencies could play in the near future when it comes to digital marketing? Especially with respect to mobile marketing? Which of the existing agency ‘types’ is best suited for leadership in the digital space? (PR/creative/media/digital). Do you think there is a future for digital ‘specialist’ agencies?

This is a rather broad question.

Having led a leading digital and direct marketing agency for several years, I view your question in a slightly different way. Given consumer’s media consumption habits, I feel that the best marketing solutions come from understanding all the possible ways to reach and influence your desired audience. This may be through earned media (PR), paid media (advertising), word of mouth, direct marketing and the list goes on.

A truly integrated solution can be accomplished with one lead agency coordinating partners as there is no “one-stop shop” or with a selection of agency partners coordinated by the client.

Digital specialist agencies do offer a great deal of value in understanding the intricacies of how the various media options work, especially regarding mobile media. As digital is often technical, this understanding of capabilities can mute some of the ability to manage the interplay between media options. Thus, digital specialist agencies run the risk of pursuing ideas that fit their particular media versus ideas that can be integrated and brought to life across various media platforms.

From my point of view- this stands for all types of agencies- digital or non-digital. The non-digital ones have difficulty porting the concept to digital, and in many ways, vice-versa. Though in the not-so-distant future, both will do each other and everyone else’s jobs.

Think About It

In past life, I have been a salesperson. As a matter of fact, I still am one. Come to think of it, we all are, in a way.

More so those who have been around in the digital marketing industry (across its various disciplines).

In the founding years of Digital Marketing in Asia (1999-2006), if you had anything to do with digital marketing, you essentially had to sell hard. Everyone loved to listen, but few actually bought what you were selling. Specially ‘digital media’ was an abstract thought in the early days (“it is all a scam”)

So I know what it means to be a sales rep. And just like people from all walks of life, there are some good ones and others who are simply a pain in the butt.

And as a digital marketing consultant and buyer of media and technologies, I deal regularly with publisher representatives/media sales people day in and day out. As someone who has been on both sides of the table, here is what I look for when it comes to setting rules of engagement with salespeople. Applies equally for salespeople across all industries:

1. Bring value to the table- not a hook : The agenda is value- how can you impact my business, my client’s business -and your business in turn. Give me value- not a hook. Better efficiencies? tick. Innovations? tick.  Allowing agency to help media create a better solution? tick. We are all in the business of consulting, innovation and accountability. Even commodities (ad space) can be innovated upon. Lunch/coffee/dinner/beer can wait.
2. Be genuine: Sales is not only about, well, selling. It is about relationships. Work that out- it helps. have genuine relationships. In the Asian context, it works better culturally- and is bound to rub off on the business.
3. Share: Media and agency folks are hungry for knowledge/information. Load them up. White papers, learning sessions, special webinars, the works. Think of a route to share- even if you are in the business of selling ‘general’ content.
4. Don’t (try to) intimidate : Appreciate you are God’s gift to your company. But please. Understand the business you are in. It is not the media business. It is not a ‘sales’ business. It is a business of relationships. It exists due to relationships. So if you have come from a more ‘advanced’ country or represent a big search engine- give me the value- and spare me the attitude.
5. And I should comply because you met the ‘client’?: So you met the client. And are thinking eff the agency. (“We met the client yesterday and they want to go ahead with our solution. Raise the IO”) Guess what? Bad idea. There is a reason Brands trust their agencies. Domain knowledge, accountability, consistency- all the things that an agency brings on the table. Media Strategists meet these ‘James Bonds’ every day. In a B2B2B ecosystem, piss off one party involved in decision making- and say bon-voyage en-route to eternal alienation. Alas, Bond is fiction.
6. Be fast (not furious): Agencies need things fast. ‘As of yesterday’ is more than just a cliche here. Prompt deliveries will ensure that you are top of mind in case of any new business requirement. Fret on deliveries and there is always someone else who is faster and eager to make that sale.
7. Management introduction: Introduce agency partners to your management. It makes you look good and the agency get the bigger picture. Make sure that the conversation is elevated here- and moves beyond nice exchanges. International trends? Bigger partnerships for betterment?

In short, Value, Relationship and Delivery -three key issues to engaging well with your prospective clients (b2b or b2c or b2b2b or b2b2c or whatever….)

That said, not that agencies do everything alright. They have their share of jokers too. More on that later.

Think About It

It’s that time of the year again. Conferences. forums and industry gatherings – some large scale and some niche ones.

ad:tech falls in the former category. For those within the digital marketing industry, it is not just large scale. It is BIG.

I have attended ad:tech events in the past and have shared my experiences. (Can’t believe its been a year since I wrote on this topic). This year, it opened today (in Singapore- 3rd June 2010) and what a bummer- I had to miss the first day.

However thanks to tweets from my group and the update emails from Si Ting Sng from Bite Communications (thanks!), I at least have a flavor of the event.

From one of the email updates- this section summarizes the event proceedings- reproducing verbatim:

ad:tech Singapore 2010 consists of 6 keynotes and 24 breakout sessions with over 30 exhibitors and sponsors including publishers and media owners taking part.  Among them, technologies and solutions from mobile marketing to analytics, e-mail marketing to Search Engine Optimisation will be showcased.

Seem to be everything I spend a regular day on. Hope to visit tomorrow- on the second day of the session and whet my appetite for Digital Marketing information.

What is also interesting is one full stream dedicated to advanced marketing and branding.  ‘Digital’ as a branding medium still has a lot of miles to cover- but really, that is the imminent future. Add to this the fact that leading brand marketers-  alongside consultants/agency representatives are now speaking on this topic- sends the right signals. Measurablity is an inseparable part of digital marketing – but the real power of digital will arrive when it moves towards a balance of brand metrics and hard RoI metrics (both of them dear to  me).

Consider this- the sessions started with this keynote:

• The Future of Brands on the Internet: Alex Hunter, Independent Brand Consultant

and the second day will cover a similar subject, though it seems more specifically in context of a brand

• Driving Marketing Excellence Through Digital – The Kraft Foods Asia-Pacific Journey

Keynote by Shawn Warren, VP Marketing, Asia Pacific, Kraft Foods: who will discuss the important role digital marketing plays in building power brands across Asia Pacific.

Great stuff.

Another thing I missed the first day- keynotes on ‘Digital in South east Asia’. I am a huge ASEAN proponent- and it sucks that I missed the first day keynotes on this topic.

But there’s always tomorrow. Hope to be there. And write about it if I do.

Think(ing) about it.

Shalabh

Time flies.

Its been about 8 months since I last participated in Social Networking World forum Asia, the Asian chapter of the popular forum from the UK.

A voice over from my last year’s talk on “Video Social Networking” here and a post on it about a year back here

The Social Media World Forum (SMWF) Asia this year is scheduled for the 22/23rd September at Suntec, Singapore (before the F1 Singapore night race). The event will showcase the leading social media trends taking place in Asia through a combined conference and exhibition.

The good folks organizing this conference (Six Degrees events- thanks Ian, Richard and Dee) asked me to chair the second day of the conference – and of course it should be fun doing it.

The agenda of the conference could be found here

I am also on the panel of advisers for the forum and hope to contribute.

This time around, apart from the ‘big’ speakers and participants, we also have on-the-ground managers- people who are in the thick of the things. Expect a little more action.

A promo video to get a ‘feel’ of the event:

Enjoy, participate and contribute. Hope to see you there

Think about it

Shalabh

This is one thing India was missing on till now- but I see some traction building up now.  And its about time.

Karam Lakshman, this year’s programme manager for iAccelerator (an incubator of internet & mobile startups in India) introduced me to this relatively new but exciting programme they have come up with.

The Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE), an IIM (Indian Institute of Management) Ahmedabad endeavour, has invited entrepreneurs in the internet and mobile space to submit application under its iAccelerator incubation programme.

The incubation programme runs from June 1st to August 1st this year, and the deadline for submitting application for the iAccelerator’s current edition is April 10, 2010.

iAccelerator have their own building in the IIM campus, and the programme has run thrice in the last 2 years, and have already funded about 16 companies.

What to expect from the programme? Verbatim from Karam here:

Its fairly simple. You send us an application for funding saying that you want a startup that does xyz. We read every single application that comes in. If we like your application, we’ll get in touch with you via email and then meet you if the email conversation goes well. We’re funding companies in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bombay, Bangalore & Mumbai.
We offer living and working space in each of these cities if the startup needs them. Once you get selected, you spend 10 days at IIM to sort things like your business plan, get your company incorporated, etc… After that, you spend 3 months building the first version of your product.
We’ll have weekly meetings with mentors & inspiring speakers in your cities + free dinner !
After 3 months, we help you get your first set of customers so you can see if your product is actually viable.
We’ll take it from there after that… if you need funding and your customers are happy, we’d be happy to fund you ourselves or introduce you to other investors too.

The programme will be run by experienced professionals and CEOs from the Indian internet and mobile space.

The selection criterion:

According to iAccelerator, all you need to have is brilliance and a good idea. More here.

This differentiates their programme from other incubators in the present landscape.

More. (Verbatim again):

I think there’s a great story around the fact that there are extremely few incubators in India who are willing to fund a startup even if all they have is just an idea.

The other thing is, given that we’re backed by IIM-A… we can do a tremendous amount to help startups apart from just funding them.

If they apply from a place like mysore for example, we can give them living and working space in Bangalore.

We’ll get them in touch with mentors to advise them if they come across any difficulties and I think the greatest value we provide is the fact that we’ll help them get their first set of customers once their product ready.

The other great thing is that we’re the only incubator that can support a startup across the country, We’ve got amazing partners in Delhi, Bangalore, Bombay & Hyderabad apart from our own facility in Ahmedabad.

And no Red tape.

The best thing I can say however is that we’ve got zero in the way of red-tape even though we’re technically a government organization. That and we read every single application that comes in.

So that’s about it. if you are an Indian entrepreneur, go ahead and try this out. Best of luck to iAccelerator and all the applicants.

Keep on Chasing The Storm.

Governments are largely reactive in nature. Things move with a heavy foot, there are processes to be followed, and ‘corporatization’ is frowned upon. By ‘corporatization’, I largely mean ‘marketing’.

The fundamentals governing this thought process have ground in the fact that governments need to be largely ‘welfare’ units, ‘not-for-profit’ organizations. Which they should be- but with a broader perspective.

Marketing is so synonymous with greedy profit churning and pushy sales calls, that it is almost a bad word- and because of lack of hard data supporting usefulness of each marketing initiative, governmental organizations find it easy to leave it alone. Not to be touched. From a useful discipline that allows one to make their ideas reach relevant people, it becomes a cryptic, pseudo-relevant science.

There is little specialist talent, therefore, within governmental organizations to proactively take marketing initiatives.

Things, however, are changing. Not only do we see political parties and political candidates using the power of new age marketing techniques and tools, we also see some governments taking a pro active approach towards connecting with their stakeholders.

And from what I have seen in the recent few years, fewer government organizations have used new marketing  opportunities than those within Singapore.

Specifically from the ‘Social Media’/engagement standpoint, there have been some recent successes that I noticed- I will list some of them here- mostly from top of mind recall, but I am sure there are more cases out there.

Like most new things, these initiatives have not been without their share of criticisms (ample to find that in Singapore) and execution hiccups.

But the highlight is not about how great the campaigns were, how flawless the execution was or how measurable were these campaigns.

Many of these campaigns were none of these, and many probably failed miserably at achieving the desired results.

But what is worth highlighting is that they tried. It is BIG DEAL in governments. These are government or quasi government (aided or assisted with government control/stake) organizations. These are not nimble enterprises. The fact that they take this ‘risk’ of venturing into hitherto unknown territory and risk mockery or failure, is HUGE. To me, it is important enough that these campaigns saw the light of the day.

Time does not permit to dissect these campaigns, but I hope to, sometime in future. And also, my point of view on how they could have been better or what could be the next steps following up from where they left it.  As of now, just listing some details on these campaigns.

• Singapore Tourism Board (STB):
  • Aided by their agency partners, STB seems to have undertaken a few non-mainstream initiatives
  • STB Crowdsourcing Ideas from public: Following up on their roadmap to year 2020, STB launched a website asking the common person on their vision of how to improve this sector in 2020.
  • STB blogger connections: STB now has a section on their website featuring Blogger perspectives on Singapore.  Bloggers talk about new stuff, their experiences, and bring in a slightly different side of the life in Singapore- which could be of immense interest to the visitors who want to get the story from individuals not corporations.
• Reach Singapore: The organization entrusted with community development in Singapore, had launched early some basic steps in connecting and reaching out to the community, specially the youth. Setting up the ubiquitous Facebook and Twitter communities were basic attempts, but the fact that some initiatives were as early as 2008, is interesting to note.
• Senior ministers in the government now actively engage digitally- and participate in forums. This is seen even ‘offline’. Last year, at the omy.sg (a bilingual site in mandarin and english) Blogger award night, the Chief Guest was Mr George Yeo- Minister of foreign affairs in the Singapore government. Attending a congregation of largely teens or tweens!
• NTUC Fairprice : Less known as a “trade union corporation”, more as a supermarket chain, their facebook page now boasts more than 26k members. Frankly, it is quite basic, slightly unkempt (“What’s up” section has nothing inside (!)) and seems a lot more could have been done than promoting a contest and their TVCs. But still worth a mention.
• SingPost: This is what happens when an old school service tries to appeal to the new age consumers. Singapore Post or SingPost is essentially a postal service (actually they have a lot more to their repertoire) and here is what they tried:
  • In the wake of Youth Olympics in Singapore, they decided to undertake a stealth marketing campaign.
  • Some graffiti artists were hired and in full public view, were made to paint graffiti on Singpost postboxes. In Singapore, that is BIG DEAL. Any graffiti on public properties is treated as serious vandalization and is punishable by law.
  • The morning after effect assumed was that people would talk about it, it would spread- followed by Singpost admitting it was a publicity stunt -and all will be hunky dory. Only it went the other way- complaints and social media buzz derided the act as distasteful and counter to the values we should impart to the youth.
  • To me, it was Classic germFeed- created an opportunity to talk- bystanders created content- took videos/took snaps, shared it and commented on it.
  • Good or Bad- to get a postal service get talked about by the youth is a huge deal. I am not sure if kids nowadays would think of Post Boxes as something to be like a fire safety poles. If kids were all about sharing and compassion and love and the spirit of games- gaming and cinema would have died long back.
  • Could it have done in a better way? Sure it could have been. Was graffiti necessary? Sure it wasn’t. But the idea of doing a radical exercise- something out of the ordinary- by itself is worth a mention.

What would I have done? Here is what I would have done- stick color codes or Augmented Reality code stickers on all Post boxes- promote it across media channels- encourage people to snap it with their camera phones- wherever they saw the boxes and create engaging content to engage with it. Maybe show the journey of a parcel,maybe show profile of Youth Olympic atheletes- tonnes of things to surprise people with.

Actually, as I said, none of these are examples of ‘great’ initiatives. But if they evolve from hereon- it is what will make the difference. If they continue trying it is then they will make that difference.

They have had their share of criticisms, let us allow them to entertain and engage us.

Think About It

Shalabh

“Think About It”- Ideas shaping digital media and marketing in the new decade

The new book will be launched by mid February in both Kindle format and paperback format.

We had seeked your inputs and opinions on which cover design layout did you like the best.

Thanks everyone for not only helping us choose the right cover but also with your critique and suggestions for improvements.

We went through all the suggestions in detail and tried to achieve a balance. And that brought us to the final choice.

And the Winner is- Cover design no. 8

Of course this design will not be used as it is here- but with further changes and more cleaning up. Will keep you posted.

A whole lot of friends commented and decided us to choose the right cover- across platforms- Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and emails.

Truely, a cover design chosen by you. Some of the responses here:

Excerpt from Twitter:

Excerpt from Facebook:

Some, like Maria, CEO and co-founder of Linqia from Barcelona- had some gems for all the designs

(We loved it!)- her comment:

=============================================

Dear Shalabh,

Hope my comments help in some way:

• Cover 8: Very clean, illustration offers insight into the theme of the book, great font
• Cover 7: Icons are effective showing humans however overused throughout the industry. Also the font doesn’t work at all.
• Cover 6: Warm design which weakens the overall affect you’re trying to achieve by making the statement ‘Think about it’. It’s also quite busy.
• Cover 5: The lines at the top make the cover too busy and conflict with the colorful people icons. Again – these icons are used heavily throughout the industry which could connote ‘another web 2.0 book’
• Cover 4: Very beautiful design however on first impression the book looks to be about financial matters
• Cover 3: Extremely busy! Too many design elements.
• Cover 2: The wireframe of the man is effective and would work well with typography from cover 8 with no additional graphics.
• Cover 1: Great colours. Strong typography. Lines are also strong in ‘thought’ and ‘landscape’

The 2 that really stand out and project a positive first impression are covers 1 and 8.

Maria

===============================

I can’t put all the comments here- but some friends went to the extent of finding the right font and asking us to use those in the text instead.

It was great. We tried to follow as much as we could (and as much as our Art Director would allow us to)

Now just if the economics could allow us to collectively arrive at the cost of the book too.

Think about it

Shalabh

Twitter- @shalabhpandey

Keep in touch for further updates.

RAPP is a leading marketing services agency. RAPP in Singapore, is bringing to town in what looks like a cool event.

They call it Business-Evangelism.

The promos say… BE 2010 promises to be an event that will change your perceptions of business, culture, and life.

And in their words, this event is for you -

If you’re a marketer looking to understand where tomorrow’s consumerscape is headed…
If you’re a professional hoping to tap into the minds of today’s change agents…
If you’re an academic wanting to immerse in thought-provoking discourses…
If you’re an entrepreneur hungering for new knowledge and ideas…
If you’re anyone wishing to be inspired…

Sounds exactly like I could use to describe the potential readers of my new book

The price tag for attending is hefty- and surely is for the select few.

But here’s the good news. You will get straight 10% off if you give my reference with this code: “Shalabh_Rapping”

Send an email to me (shalabhpandey at gmail dotcom)

Or for any more information/booking to Valli (CEO at RAPP Singapore) at (vall.l at rapp.com.sg) with code “Shalabh_Rapping”

Disclaimer: Oh! yes- and I don’t get any commissions or payment for this post. Just 10% off for readers of ChasingTheStorm.

Here are the speakers:

So have fun and keep your evangelism on.
Think About It
Shalabh

“Think About It”- Ideas shaping digital media and marketing in the new decade

Its love’s labour. Really.

After more than a year of running ChasingTheStorm – with loads of loving time spent- and acquiring loads of loving friend circle, this is it. I put together a book.

“Think About It” is a book inspired by Ideas from this website. With more meat, more thoughts and well, in a different format. The title of the book is actually the signature I use in most articles.

The book covers Digital Media and Marketing trends in the new decade, Mobile Media, new marketing paradigms and Marketing Case studies.

It is written not as a tutorial to digital media platforms or Digital marketing 101. Rather- it attempts to raise a storm on specific Digital media issues. Offering an easy read for the evolved, thinking marketer, it is a book to raise debate- and expects a degree of interest in Digital Media.

I’ll talk more about it later- but since I am quite excited about it, I decided to put up the news anyways.

It’ll go in print soon (and available online and on the Kindle)- but as usual, not without your support in its making. I need you to help pick up the right cover design.

My good friend Ankur Khurana volunteered to get the cover design done- and boy- he did get them designed in two days flat. Many thanks buddy. And many thanks to MG Harti- the Art Director who helped the idea come into reality by doing many iterations.

So here are the designs- (the copy/text and some elements are dummy).

Just from a design layout perspective- let me know which ones do you like the best?

You could comment here, or

Email me: shalabhpandey at gmail dotcom

DM or @ at Twitter : @shalabhpandey

The cover Designs for “Think About It”

GROUP 1:

Cover One

Cover 2

Cover 3

Cover 4

GROUP 2:

Cover 5

Cover 6

Cover 7

Cover 8

Comment here, or

Email me: shalabhpandey at gmail dotcom

DM or @ at Twitter : @shalabhpandey

Think About It

Shalabh

Think of some oxymorons. And then think about this- “templatized entrepreneurship”.

In case you are actively looking for starting your own (tech/web) venture- and looking for any kind of assistance- financial or otherwise- be prepared for these templatized requirements from establishments:

Template 1) Single entrepreneurs are not welcome.Entrepreneurship support/financing companies are of the belief system that starting business is something that necessarily needs more than one founders.

This started from the hotbed of all such activities- Silicon Valley. Their Asian counterparts- as expected- take the template apply here. But is this requirement true of startup success /entrepreneurship all over the world? Is the culture in Asia more individual led than partnerships led?

This presentation from TED India descibes some nuances in the different value structures between the East and the West:

Template 2) If you are tech start up- not only do you need multiple partners, at least one of them has to be ‘Technology’ background.

Template 3) The younger you are, the more schemes there are for you. Age is inversely proportional to the chances of getting funding- and is directly proportional to the demands from the prospective venture

Template 4) Don’t get your spouse involved in the business. An incompetent partner is more welcome that a competent spouse. No body wants a Mom and pop show.

Template 5) A bad idea that everyone else is doing- is more valuable than a ‘good’ concept that no one is pursuing.

So in case you are looking for funding- follow these templates. And remember- it is always more important to spend your time in contests, shows and funding presentations.The work on business can wait- get the glamor on first.

Think about it

Shalabh

In part 4 of this 4 part video brainstorm, we discuss how to market a start up.

Start ups usually do not have the luxury of huge advertising spends- and this pushed the boundaries being creative and using only the most efficient mediums for maximum bang for their buck.

Thorben highlights how he uses the Influencers (what I call the MicroInfluencers) to gain traction.

I had lots to discuss- but this was about them- and some good points were made .

Enjoy

Shalabh

In part 1 and part 2 of this 4 series video brainstorm, we discussed Orsiso and Advertising on social networks previously.

In Part3, we discuss whether downloadable appplications have a significant advantage over browser based or web based applications. Also another point- the funding story- the issues- what do investors look for, and the like.

In part 1 and part 2 of this 4 series video brainstorm, we discussed Orsiso and Advertising on social networks previously.

In Part3, we discuss whether downloadable appplications have a significant advantage over browser based or web based applications. Also another point- the funding story- the issues- what do investors look for, and the like.

Enjoy

Shalabh Pandey

We featured Orsiso in Part 1.

In part 2 of the discussion between myself (Shalabh Pandey) and Thorben, amongst other things, we discuss advertising on social networks, its significance and nuances.

Enjoy!