It has been happening since some time now. Lately it increased.

I am talking about folks seeking my time, industry experience and resources to get them started.

Sidetrack: I just saw Paris Hilton talking about her show My new BFF at the Jimmy Kimmel Show- and she said many contestants had turned out to be “hungry tigers”- she did not mean it in the positive sense (this is Paris Hilton- guys) but used the phrase to address ambitious contestants who seemed pretty OK in the beginning but showed their true colors as the show progressed- Hungry tigers who would throw everything out of the window to get what they wanted.

Now I don’t have much in common with Ms Hilton. If I ran a show like my new BFF, I’d probably have to bribe my friends to be the contestants. But then, lately, I have had my share of hungry tigers in the reality show that is my life.

I like to help people. Always have. And this is one time I can throw humility away to mention the following points (deserve bullets):

• I have given a break to many a people who otherwise probably wouldn’t have had that break in their lives
• Mentored numerous folks. Out of interest and because I liked doing that- not because of professional obligations. Some hand holding and later many- indirectly as I figured hand holding wasn’t too empowering for them
• Professionally helped others by going out of the way when I need not have
• I think it is more important to be there in someone’s sorrow, troubles and needs than on other occasions

At the same time, I can proudly (and at the same time regrettably) say that I haven’t had a mentor in my professional space and know all that I know all by myself and have picked most stuff from the ‘streets’.

Anyways – with that background- back to the topic. Lately I met my share of “hungry tigers”- from business men wanting to set something up in Singapore- to ad agencies wanting to expand into digital- to guys looking for jobs in the region- to people (apparently) wanting to finance any business ventures that I might have- and to people wanting me to help them market their ventures for free (!).

I spent time with all of them (at many occasions – unreasonable amounts)- mostly because I felt I should if I could, and sometimes because of my foolhardy enthusiasm to meet people. (I forget I am not Paris Hilton with the luxury of  riches).

Thankfully these folks show me the ways of the world more often than not.

Like the guy seeking my help in understanding the Singapore Digital Media Marketing landscape. Wonder of wonders? We had never met.  He is from a company trying to assess market situation in Singapore for ad sales.

After a few occasions of seeking information, (which they would not have easily got from anywhere otherwise), he thanked me (over chat) and vanished. Only to appear in a forum in Singapore. All he said was “You are Shalabh….Chasing The Storm..hmm…” (!). Thanks buddy. For the next time my charges are $300 per hour for a minimum of 10 hours. Oh and by the way- don’t apply for the new reality series of My BFF- Ms Hilton doesn’t like ‘hungry tigers’.

Or another guy wanting to acquire clients in Singapore market for his marketing services company. Visiting Singapore from abroad. Reference a acquaintance. Spent half a day with him and a dinner. He went back and not a word since. Not even a ‘like it’ on FB status message. Would I think twice if I had the opportunity to do business with them?

Or the guy whom I met in a conference. Seemed to be lost in Singapore when it came to buying IT products.

Felt bad for him. Imagined I was in Taiwan looking for Vegetarian food in the streets at night time. “No can’t let that happen to an acquaintance…”

I was free that evening after work and spent some time specially visiting Funan with him. Then bye bye. The guy put me in his company’s mailing list (which is only about the conferences his company is attending BTW- and not some informative stuff- to rub salt on wounds)- Wham! Bam! Thank you Ma’m.

And I think I can’t even mention how many times has this happened now. People contacted through referrals and friends or social networks- mostly looking for quick assistance- professional or otherwise- and then disappear- as if a literal vanishing cream has come out in the market that does the trick.

And no- it has nothing to do with my body odor (at least I don’t think so)

Now I do not expect anything from them. And am surely not fishing for gratitude or anything. But it had started happening too often in the past few months. And it seems being “professional” and being “social” are two mutually exclusive things.

Felt like Betty in Archie comics. And that’s not cool. Use her to do your homework or worse- kiss Veronica?

Now here is the funny part- many of these guys are from the digital marketing industry or belong to a ‘social media marketing’ set up. Clearly now I know where does the phrase “A sweetmaker never eats his own sweets” comes from.

Cartoon by Dave Walker.

Real life socializing is more complex than virtual one with many different aspects of personality and expectations at play.

So friends- while many of you think Ms Hilton to be a bimbo, I got a good lesson from her talk (“Huuuge”- as she refers to something really ‘cool’ or ‘happening’). And move over Betty. From now on- Here comes Reggie Mantle.

thumbnail courtesy Archiecomics.com

Citibank India and their agency set out to start an Online Advertising campaign to recruit Non Resident Indians for Citibank Online Remittance. You will know in a minute why I use words like ‘advertising’ campaign and ‘recruit’

By now, the use of Internet as a demand generation/lead generation vehicle has been quite well entrenched in the financial sector.Many of the banking marketers are savvy affiliate, search and cost per acquisition direct response marketers. Marketing services Agencies for such product categories have also been riding the learning curve when it comes to churning out ads fast, operational set up and even (arguably) campaign optimization techniques to elicit the the best cost per action

Unfortunately, since the whole emphasis has been on “hit hard and get leads” (some people call it “Wham Bam Thank you Ma’m”) tactics, creative uses and examples of generating consumer response or engagement led response marketing have been few and far between.

The result?

Click to watch this excruciatingly boring, low production quality and ‘un-forward worthy’ online ad from Citibank. To make matters worse- they actually have a full site dedicated to it. With no promise on what to expect next from the site. With no efforts to make the users come back to the site ( a sequel or comments/openness to receive more feedback or transparent engagement)- it’s really just showing an ad to people – and asking them to forward to a friend or sign in for online remittance- almost as a return favor.

And these are not the only things wrong with the ad. Some more here:

• Does not make me ‘feel’ anything- Does not elicit any emotional connect- The pseudo-nostalgic feelings that the ad attempts to exploit- fall completely flat. Come On- thinking of the Taj Mahal in India is not something that makes people nostalgic. That is a tourist frigging dream at best- not of an average Indian.
• No connect: All NRIs are not settled in America: It does not gel with me at all. I am an NRI settled in Singapore- and it seems to me that citibank is saying- I have this facility only for American Indians- they are the majority of my “TG” – and the rest of you cheap second grade NRIs- can chose some other services- if they want to
• Confused- are you trying to play on emotions or humor (over drama of the mother)? sadly both are missing- if either case was presented strongly, it would have made for a great viral, but it becomes a juvenile attempt at eliciting leads
• Production quality: It makes you go- Woah! What was that? That ad would fail to have responses even in the early 2000s – people now are exposed to more cutting edge messaging- and take high standards for granted- specially if it is an ‘ad’ from a company
• It does not do anything unexpected. Pretty average joe- normal routine stuff.
• It looks pureplay advertising- and that sucks- do this on a banner ad and see the response. (But then you might blame the format rather than the execution)

Now this post might look like lambasting one particular ad or company (I don’t even know the agency)- but basically I’m trying to put things into perspective for other marketing services agencies- there are no straight thumb rules of producing great work with creative intelligence but there sure are some absolute ‘no-nos’ that we as the marketing fraternity have to keep in mind. Not just good for our campaigns, brands, leads and awards but also for the medium.

Many industries- inspite of being demand generation heavy, (specifically travel), have tried to exploit more creative ways to generate leads and interest in their products.

The arguments have been many- including the fact that- In a way, travel products (including the very commoditized ticketing business) are pull and most financial products are ‘push’.

But if that is the case, I would argue the ‘push’ categories need to think of even more creative ways to engage consumers, better ways to harness their own databses (CRM processes) and think more long term. Cookie cutter approaches will only increase your acquisition costs not to mention failing to have a long term association with your brand.

And since the example in this case is India, (and also because people outside could think there is any less cutting edge creative work happening there) I’d like to highlight this creative (similar genre and animated) from India- selling a highly commoditized and extremely competitive- online travel booking product.

I have many more internationally acclaimed examples, but will rely on this creative to make a case in point.

This was done a few years back and something that is from memory- though I am sure more innovative work has been done after this.  I have hardly any data on how was this promoted/distributed or exactly what response did this elicit  (though I know from industry sources this has been successful and there have been sequels for this- an important criterion for me to judge the success)

Make My Trip Ad

This might not be well understood by all- it is in Hindi and plays on a (silly but cute) game that Indian kids play (or used to play- nowadays its all WIIs and PSPs- but perhaps that makes it more funny). A small description:

The game goes like this- one person has to chant the name of a ‘thing’ follwed by “ud” (‘fly’ for Hindi) in fast succession- gesticulating by fingers if the object actually flies (so something like “bird fly”- will make you lift your finger- whereas if you lift a finger on, say, “Cow fly”- then you lose)

The messaging is based on the proposition that anyone can fly (air travel in India has tradionally been out of reach for the common person)- from the milk man to the washerman. 

They made an animated creative with a sister playing this game with his toddler brother. So, in effect- even kids know that now everyone can fly- by using the services of this website.

So why do I think this creative is good (as compared to the previous one)? Some reasons:

The age old game in its virtual avatar establishes a connect, gives an unexpected play on a “heard that before” promise, good production quality, the kids and their voices and responses -elicit emotions and humor, clear value propostion- and all of this making people forward more and be receptive to the ad. Of course could have been better- and could have had more engagement and transparency built in by way of comments or seeding across sites (I could not find this creative on YouTube even though I went looking for it)

Enough said- Will have more commentary on ads soon..keep coming.

Courtsey Pitch Hong Kong

Enough said. Watch. Laugh. Learn.

It ain’t me babe. But there’s something in the air.

Listening to one of my favs- Dylan- and thinking a lot of it applies to the modern day ‘engagement’ marketing change.

So here’s a dialogue construct between a audience, a traditional thinking marketer (TMM) and a new age engagement Marketer (NAM)- if they had to talk only through the lyrics of Bob Dylan songs (song links indicated- so you can enjoy the songs too!)

TTM: (What advertising says to the audience):

Baby let me follow you down, baby let me follow you down
Well I’ll do anything in this godalmighty world
If you just let me follow you down.
Can I come home with you, baby can I come home with you ?
Yes I’ll do anything in this godalmighty world
If you just let me come home with you.
Baby let me follow you down, baby let me follow you down
Well I’ll do anything in this godalmighty world
If you just let me follow you down.
Yes I’ll do anything in this godalmighty world
If you just let me follow you down.

Song: Baby let me follow you down

Audience: Not again. Been seduced enough. Something’s not right. Not again.

Not one more night, not one more kiss,
Not this time baby, no more of this,
Takes too much skill, takes too much will,
It’s revealing.
You came, you saw, just like the law
You married young, just like your ma,
You tried and tried, you made me slide
You left me reelin’ with this feelin’.
On the rising curve
Where the ways of nature will test every nerve,
You won’t get anything you don’t deserve
Where we were born in time.

Song: Born in time

NAM to TTM: Look brother- She won’t just listen just because you are talking. Engage her.

TTM to NAM: Hello? What the hell is that? Where’s the control? Where’s the quantifying of reach and frequency? How about GRPs of conversation? And how do you measure any of this?

NAM: Sigh!
How many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s washed to the sea?
Yes, ‘n’ how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

(Someone suggest a better one for this occasion)

Song: Blowin in the wind

TTM: Oh! Come on. We need to get this done. Let’s do a burst on TV and Papers. What the heck. Maybe even have a Facebook group. We post all our pictures and TV ads. That should take care.

The Audience had enough:
What are you tryin’ to overpower me with, the doctrine or the gun?
My back is already to the wall, where can I run?
The tuxedo that you’re wearin’, the flower in your lapel,
Ooh, I can’t stand it, I can’t stand it,
You wanna take me down to hell.
Dead man, dead man,
When will you arise?
Cobwebs in your mind,
Dust upon your eyes.

Song: Dead man Dead man

NAM: Well Brother. You need more than that. Platforms don’t appeal so much as the proposition through conversation. Maybe they turned up, but you did not engage in the way you should?

Well, your friends come by for you
I don’t know what to say
Well, your friends come by for you
I don’t know what to say
I just can’t face up to tell ‘em
Honey, you just went away

Maybe you could get help from someone on this. CrowdDive?

Song: Call Letter Blues

TTM: OK. Let’s make up. I’m sure we can work it out (somehow). Let me leave a message

Honey, just allow me one more chance
To get along with you.
Honey, just allow me one more chance,
Ah’ll do anything with you.
Well, lookin’ for a woman
That ain’t got no man,
Is just lookin’ for a needle
That is lost in the sand.
Just-a one kind favor I ask you,
‘Low me just-a one more chance.

Song: Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance

The audience then has a final word. I’m (still) open but not gullible.
Come baby, find me, come baby, remind me of where I once begun.
Come baby, show me, show me you know me, tell me you’re the one.

Come baby, rock me, come baby, lock me into the shadows of your heart.
Come baby, teach me, come baby, reach me, let the music start.

NAM steps in. Before it is too late. He responds in continuation:

I could be dreaming but I keep believing you’re the one I’m livin’ for.
And I will always be emotionally yours.
It’s like my whole life never happened,
When I see you, it’s as if I never had a thought.
I know this dream, it might be crazy,
But it’s the only one I’ve got.
Come baby, shake me, come baby, take me, I would be satisfied.
Come baby, hold me, come baby, help me, my arms are open wide.
I could be unraveling wherever I’m traveling, even to foreign shores.
But I will always be emotionally yours

And they lived happily ever after.

Song: Emotionally yours

Final note from Shalabh

Come gather ’round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You’ll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin’
Then you better start swimmin’
Or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin’

Song: The times they are a changin’

Actually come to think of it- we could do this more often- Can we take a musician and a topic and build a conversation using the musician’s songs and the situation?

Examples: Economic crisis and Mark Knopfler; Retrenchments and Rihanna (!), Environmentalism and Creed, etc (Bad examples- but I know you can be more creative than that)

Thumbnail:Courtesy flickr

This was too hilarious to skip. Someone remixed the Mac-PC ads- meant to be the original viral/GermFeed-mixing Mr Bean instead of the PC guy (originally spoofing Bill Gates)

I’m sure you’ve seen the original ad- try finding on YouTube, in case you haven’t yet.

The second (funnier) part is here featuring Rowan Atkinson Aka Mr Bean.

Beyond the ‘funny’ part of seeing Mr Bean dancing to Mr lova’ lova’ and going all shaggadelic, to me, this has more meaning beyond the juvenile thrill. Mr Bean seems to have brought this raw mocking almost uncaring unsophisticated appeal here. As the Macboy goes on with his well crafted ‘stylized’ message, Mr Bean moves around him in an uncaring, mocking kind of way.

“This is horseshit so let me horse around anyways” types.

Watched about 1.7 million times. Was this a strategy employed by Microsoft or this just happened? Coz there are like a hundred spoofs of this ad online. And some comments show converts- even evangelists- reprimanding the Mac Fanboys for their comments!

• Wow , i tought Mac was good , but PC owned in that one xD
• this tells all mac is the gayes thing in the world
• Super Nintendo Beats MAC IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY. You PC hater… Try it out once.. just once.. learn how to use it you’ll be surprised how good it is…
• apple is forbidden

I’d been told in a conference by a fellow blogger how Mac does not give a shit to the new age Microinfluencers- and how some bloggers were turned back from one of their stores- when they just wanted to be a part of the launch celebrations. Imagine! No PR agency pitching- they themselves wanted to be a part of it. And they were turned back! No wonder then that I see a new wave of Mac blasters and PC sympathesizers- and you can feel it on YouTube with the million spoofs on PC Vs Mac- only this time- they are in favor of the PC.

Some more spoofs here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=get+a+mac&search_type=

Enjoy!

I like Optical illusions and I think many of them subtly signify CTSs philosophy of looking beyond the obvious- or looking at things with a different perspective.

While designing and printing CTS business cards on my own, I used this interest of mine to depict the “chasing the storm” attitude. The attitude of looking beyond the obvious, and that of a daring demeanor.

Small businesses need to be on the bleeding edge of innovations and a certain rash, raw energy feel with them. Business cards provide for an opportunity to be different- and are a great marketing tool.

Interestingly, at the start of my business management education, the first off-school project that I did (it was with an agency BTW) required me to analyze a theory behind what is called Escher illustrations- named after the famous optical illusion-abstract painter who painted some genius stuff in his lifetime. More about that later.

Meanwhile- a super cool Optical illusion GermFeed by Samsung from the UK. Enjoy!

Now this is a great “GermFeed” example- even though this is clearly a clever form of advertising, it has that power and value that makes it spread- and spread like a yogurt culture spreads in the milk.

It spreads in the advertising/marketing community- because it inspires you and you feel valuable while passing it forward to someone. And it spreads with the general users (and I hope the TG) because they find it ‘cool’ (look Samsung did this clever stuff).

Did you like it? Then I post some more.

So you started a blog- followed the journey from sub-domains to self hosted- pimped it with templates and plugged in with apps. Now it looks just dandy. “Look- a ‘ShareThis’ plug in!” First post- lots of research and love’s labor (why does love need labor BTW?). A Big long post is up (You durty… you). Sent links to friends and jumped into web stats by the hour- “WTF- I got 10 visitors! Yahoo hang on – here I come!”

Excitement continues- you get 2 comments, but nothing much- traffic went up and came down during the week. Morale follows the trending pattern. After 5 posts… you hit the writers block.

Dead fucking end. Jumping jackrabbits and holy grazing cows! Now what?

You turn to GOD. Google. Type “social media” or some link bait phrases related to your business (too many of those guys writing stuff- should get something…huff huff- Holy Shit!- too much crap. 48,787,547 links. What now? Separate the grain from chaff. Or nutrition from shit. (Bad analogy but shit matches with crap- not grain)

RSS! Damn! Why did I not think of it earlier? Log in to the reader..huff huff…phissssss…excitement whistles out like wind from a leaked ‘happy birthday’ balloon. F87king hell. Got 1000 updates- need a full day to go through these. Oi! Boss shouting (or spouse nagging- take your pick)- gotta go. Life is a bitch!

Days scroll by. Like the screen on Plurk. Only can’t go back. Youtube embeds and slideshare plugs happen, A light of inspiration appeared- and went away just as fast. Giggled at you while leaving. Like the girl in front of you in a long queue who just bought the last ice cream from the vendor as you looked on. Mental masturbation continues.

Wait what’s that appearing on your head? Horns? What? You are thinking of WordPress direct? Self f87king updatable blog? Well- what happened to originality? And customer satisfaction? And reader engagement? What? All that is jazz? You need traffic first? Ahem!

Well then…The last ‘proper’ resort. Multi author blogging. That’s the tops. Don’t need to write stuff. Invite people to write for you. There are tens within my circle who will fistfight to write for me. Right? Not so fast dood. Pick the right guys. And hope they pick you.

Choosing the right people is quintessential: “Not Shalabh Pandey. Takes too much time. Thinks too much and writes by instinct. Sometimes writes bad words. Don’t want a warrant against me. Will leave him out of this. Let’s get Seth Godin. He’s on my twitter- or facebook- or one of these things that I waste my life on…”

Well now that you got Godin to write for you, follow the protocols of multi author blogging. Next post.

What I described above is not just a frivolous description of a mind f87ked blogger. It is a reality with most. If you read carefully (and religiously bookmark and Digg and Stumble this site) you will find that there might be some tips to follow in between the sarcasm. And some of the above mentioned tools do help in getting out from the rut and getting that blog to do stuff.

As you might have comprehended by now- publishing a blog isn’t easy. Takes time- saps energy. Needs creativity- and yearns traffic. Demands commitment and rewards excellence. Mostly like all Art.

Last advice- if you are a business owner-don’t frigging blog because it is the in thing. No Sir. It was the in thing in 2002. Now it is a necessity-Almost. Helps you connect, engage and collaborate. So use it wise or loose it nice (how do I come up with these things*rolling eyes at myself*)- take expert advice if you can and spend some moolah to keep it relevant.

Do you have some tips to share? Leave a comment and we all win.

Thumbnail credit: http://www.weblogcartoons.com/

While this video is not necessarily hillarious, it is definitely a GermFeed idea from Nokia (Germ Feeding is a concept that I descibed in an earlier post of mine)

SOme people do find it hillarious and yet some are confused as to how does this relate to a mobile phone. I don’t know how to read Chinese, but it seems it is a phone released in China as the copy is Chinese.

Anywhich ways, worth a watch. Here:

[chasingthestorm]Wq5-Dlf3oH0[/chasingthestorm]

I usually don’t post so frequently, but what the heck- this video is worth the effort.

Found it on Charles’ blog on social media and thought it was an absolute gem. How many times have you come across these ads in the newspapers claiming to make you rich and famous through the internet? Their websites are one long painful never ending sales pitch and the offsite pitches are like statistics- they hide more than they reveal.

This video is a spoof – but almost perfect- the way they used to hardsell on mail order TV- and now moved on to the internet.

I loved the way the credits in the end say “Fax your email address now!” and the creepy gum chewing bloke!

As these judges say on some of these reality shows- Mind Blowing!