Internet was always about faster access- access to content and access to people.

And just about lately- the powerhouses of the web are moving towards real time internet- in an unprecedented manner.

Just when we thought real time location based chek-ins and personalized content dissemination were becoming mainstream and conversation monitoring systems were coming of age- the biggies of the web almost surreptitiously inserted more social, more ‘instant’ features on their interfaces- taking things a step further.

The phenomenon is noteworthy because the net product is more than the sum of its parts.

Shalabh Thinks: Innovation on the web proliferates faster than Moore’s law on processing power of chipsets. Sometimes little steps for the internet can be one giant leap for mankind.

Two examples that caught my attention recently - are Google and Bing- both riding the social wave. And in an unconventional manner (they have been trying their hands at it since some time)- direct integration of Social in search results.

Full on!

I am already impressed by what Google can do with social features integrated with results on search.

Dig the Realtime function on Google- If you haven’t tried yet- go to Google click on the left hand sidebar- Realtime link- and there you go.

It gives you neat little LIVE updates (mostly twitter)-against pre-defined keywords- and a nice little buzz chart at top right. Right sidebar also mentions key/most shared/important social feeds.

What’s more- they just rolled out their Social Search globally. It leverages publicly available data from sites like Flickr, Twitter (something’s brewing with Twitter and Google it seems?) and other Google sites like blogger, gmail contacts etc- and present it you mapping with your social graph.

Neat. More here in this video:

Along similar lines, Bing from Microsoft – leveraged its alignment with Facebook- and did some stupendous work. And they seem to moving in the right direction in nibbling away some of Google’s search share.

So if you haven’t recently- go to Bing. If you are logged in to Facebook- Bing reads it via cookie identification- and you will see your Facebook pic on top right. This means you can now see your friends recommendations (likes etc) on search results- and they can see yours. If you want to. If not- you could disable the function too.

More from this recent video from Bing:

If you are interested- check out the Twitter maps integration with Bing- real time visualization of tweets on a keyword layered on top of a map. Yoiu could grab a code and embed on your website. All good- except it is a bit buggy.

I had suggested earlier that 2010 would be the year of Systematic Web

I sense that 2011 is the year of the Instant Web

And I predict that 2012 will be the year of the Intent web

By God’s grace, in this field, I haven’t trumpeted empty predictions-give or take a year.

So the next most powerful thing after this wave of instant is easy to guess-It is already happening in many ways- and with unification of data across channels – will become a reality soon- is “The Intent Web”. Services guess your intent based on your past behavior and meta data- coupled with those like you. And serve you content and ads based on guessing what will you do or want next.

The Intent Web.

Or call it what you want- but think about it

Shalabh

@shalabhpandey
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rizzato/3488201179/sizes/s/in/photostream

I don’t know who Jane Mc Gonigal is. Well at least I did not- till now.
And am I glad i did.

What is productivity? And how could ‘gaming’ be productive? Quite an oxymoron right? Well, not quite apparently.

Jane demonstrates all this in an engaging and entertaining approach. Lots to learn from this video.

Jane McGonigal – On Productivity from The School of Life on Vimeo.

Productivity- in a new light. Think About It.

Shalabh
@shalabhpandey

Now that you started reading this post, let me begin by asking you some quick questions:

• What is the Focus and Directrix of a parabola? (Yes you did study this in school)
• How about the Calvin cycle of photosynthesis?
• Quick – what’s the first law of thermodynamics?

Hang on – if you think I am about to take you on a  ‘Are you smarter than a 5th grader’ journey- No I am not. Nor am I going to demonstrate my knowledge on elementary science and maths. To tell you the truth, I have no clue on the answers myself.

So why am I asking these questions in the first place?

To begin with, these might not be life impacting concerns for most school survivors (/adults), but if you’ve been there through those schooling years, you will probably appreciate the importance of knowing the answers to these questions.  Likewise, if you are an adult who wants to refresh your memory on certain concepts (like I love to go back to refreshing Statistics and mathematics fundamentals from time to time), getting  an easily available resource would be huge.

Then again, in today’s “must-have-expensive-private-tuition-otherwise-my-kid/I am- screwed” world, where nothing except crass entertainment (and perhaps ample opinions) is free, enter Khan Academy.

And these are just of the two reasons why you should visit KhanAcademy.org.

Just imagine if you could get good quality education- at your own pace- at the time that you want to.

This one line perhaps explains the concept of this virtual repository of education-well enough- but more in this video:

I first came to know about this while flipping through the Fortune  Magazine on iPAD- a few months ago. Since then, it has been talked about- and even Bill Gates has encouraged and endorsed the academy, and probably Gates Foundation will support the work at Khan Academy.

Salman Khan (or Sal Khan- as he is popularly known), the one man faculty and founder of the academy, is a Harvard MBA and former hedge fund manager. He has created about 1600+ videos since 2006 – short snippets of about 15 mins each on topics covering maths, science, economics, and other subjects. Goes a long way in demonstrating what perseverance- along with talent and passion can achieve.

Online video has been used for education since long- but the unique content, the quality, the approach and the consistency – all of these make for a great story for the Khan Academy.

Now that success has been demonstrated, what we’d like to see is the spread of the concept- across countries- and across languages. I sincerely believe in video’s real power will come to the forefront when local, vernacular content is created- making the internet a truly ubiquitous phenomenon. When the kids in the villages get world class education, and family resources do not constrain kids/adults from getting good education. In many countries, infrastructure could be  the constraint, but at least the content will not be.

Think about it.

@shalahpandey

I just read news on the removal of all Hitler related parodies from YouTube.

There have been tonnes of those Hitler parodies online, especially those built on a scene of “Downfall”- the movie.

One of the initial Hitler parodies that caught my eyes was around Social Media (removed from YouTube it seems- though am sure someone can still find it if they look hard)

But the key is not Hitler, or the movie. The key is that that video/parody was produced by a Digital Marketing person/team- just like yourself. And that tells a lot about the way people are expressing themselves- even busy individuals are spending time to create content- and something with a limited appeal to their industry only.

Lately I have seen quite a few of these.

Though only those from industry would find them funny.

One of them is here- scene from “A Few Good Men”- only in this case, the characters take a different stance on the proceedings. The “You can’t handle the truth” dialogue/speech is probably one the most remembered and known dialogues of its time.

And this parody does a good job- production wise.

Tom Cruise plays the (Premium) Publisher; Jack Nicholson- the DSP (Demand Side Platform). Randall Rothenberg – the IAB President & CEO is playing…well..himself.

To put some ‘context’ to it- those who know me- know that I love to use that word while explaining something- here is the original scene:

That also makes me think- what are the DSPs doing in Asia? Are there any worth their salt?

And the second thing that I want to highlight is- when will my Asian friends start doing this stuff? In their own languages? There’s just so much that could be leveraged- Chinese? Malay? Tagalog? There are innumerable classic scenes and power packed performances from every country.

We need to use Video. Use it in a way that opens eyes wide.

Maybe I’ll do it now- sometime soon- whenever I get a spark.

Since I understand Hindi, I’ll use some examples here. Share some scene stealers from movies/episodes from your language.

One of the hot contenders would be- this scene from a bollywood movie- Shakti:

Or this epic one from Deevar:

Not just parodies. Meaningful, humorous and topical sizzles.

Think About It.

At the risk of reinforcing my (somewhat fallacious) positioning as a  ‘Social media’ guy (I am a digital marketing person- and a proponent of engagement led marketing), here is an interesting and relatively new (end June 2010) content on digital (mainly social media, I would say) strategy from a leading brand.

A session by Alexandra Wheeler- Digital Director at Starbucks.

Listing the video along with the presentation here- as noticed on the Digital Buzz blog

Some key points from the presentation (you’ve heard a lot of this before- and the reason might be that it is becoming standard practice now across many firms)

• Social media is about relationships and engagement- so be authentic and don’t outsource your voice (Hmm…not outsourcing your voice could be debatable- and I would argue it does not play with all brands across all situations)
• Digital within Starbucks fits within a larger integrated marketing strategy ( I like this statement. As someone exposed to all marketing disciplines- especially within the digital domain- no one can vouch for this more than me)
• Revisiting Starbucks digital (social actually) strategy- some key success areas were- building a coalition (finding a common cause with the community); making a commitment and acknowledging mistakes when they were made. Crowdsourcing ideas worked for them -the “Free WiFi”  idea came up from the “My Starbucks Idea” platform and an organic community build-up led to ‘real’ fans coming in contact with the brand
• I love the importance they laid to curating content. Content became an engagement vehicle (something I’ve been reinforcing the whole of last year- and continue to do so) Creating great content and seeding it meaningfully scored high points (what I have called GermFeeding and GermSeeding)
• We need to put resources behind digital/social- Completely agree. To make it a committed effort- this needs investment in right people, tools and processes.

Enjoy the talk and the presentation below:

Clifford Stall is a scientist. Or an astronomer. Maybe he is a physicist.

I am not sure actually. But just listened through his talk on TED- and this DEMANDS a mention and sharing.

A maverick scientist, he fits the eccentric scientist stereotype to the ‘T’. Fidgety, restless and full of things to talk about, he is seen talking almost in a state of hallucinated paranoia – and for the first few minutes made me wonder if there is substance or a theme in the talk, or just plain showmanship for entertaining the audience.

Blown up zero volume glass containers, a science experiment and an amazing, possible real life chase story that led him to the TRUTH- all in one TED talk!

But towards the end- it all seems to make, well, a bit of sense.

Stall epitomizes constructive rebellion- the theme of ChasingTheStorm.com.

“Once I do something, I want to do something else.”

Sums it all up.

Enjoy.

Think About It

Shalabh

In my about to be launched book- “Think About It”- Ideas shaping digital media and marketing in the new decade, I discuss something that is just one step behind Augmented Reality, and if used correctly, could really boost interactive marketing processes and adoption.

I have also mentioned in the past, that Augmented Reality is cool- though a technoolgy whose time was not there yet. I saw its adoption increasing from mid 2010 onwards- specifically in Asia.

AR is used across touchpoints now- like with printed codes, webcams and computers but to me the real coming of age would be interactive usability via camera enables mobile devices.

However, I see signs of Augmented Reality coming up faster than expected- with usage that is more practical than just ‘cool’.

Though when you see advertisers like Nike and Adidas using this technology, the ‘cool’ automatically associates.

I discuss some good campaigns around AR here:

Nike (via marketing interactive): This one is from Asia- Hong Kong.

Nike launched this programme (mcCann+hyperfactory) to target teenagers- for strengthening its soccer products.

For four weeks, Nike plastered a series of secret codes around Hong Kong, in Nike stores and at the Causeway Bay MTR station.

The codes invite users to download a mobile application that allows them to view its T90 soccer boots and ball in 3D through their mobile screens.

So this is simple- but an early entry into this market- makes it newsworthy and upholds the innovative/cool factor of Nike.

There are some other campaigns as listed bby Devora Rogers on iMediaconnection

Samsung:

This is a simple, yet great use of Augmented reality and we could see more such stuff in the near future.

Samsung’s AR execution, which helps consumers figure out what a TV will look like on the wall, before they hang it. Users print out an image that they then show to their webcam, which faces the wall on which they want to hang the TV. The screen recognizes the AR trigger, and instead of seeing the printout, users see a TV laid over their wall through their screen.

With these examples, this technology seems perfectly well suited for home improvement and decoration industries- but the potential goes much further than that.

Home Depot:

This US retail giant has reinvented the humble gift cards.

Simply put, when you receive a gift card, displaying it in front of a webcam enables users to browse and buy products online or plan for their next project.

Here’s more- in video:

Ray Ban:

Another really cool yet practical usage by Ray Ban.

Rayban Virtual Mirror application demonstration. Using key points on your face the app maps pairs of augmented reality shades onto your face. Then you can click straight through to the store.

Ordinary people:

Well you could use this on your resume or on your business cards. Imagination is the only limitation here. Of course being a bit flamboyant helps

The real coming of age of this technology will be when it is more end user focused rather than being inward focused.

Think About It

Shalabh

Happy New Year 2010.

The MicroInfluencer (TM) as a concept in pop culture has caught on. When I had first thought about the concept of the MicroInfluencer and published it, I wanted to highlight real life people who had actually achieved some success by exercising their influence over the digital medium. The thought of individuals and everyday people having influence on the internet was not new- but the phrase itself brought clarity to the meaning.

Anyhow, I intend to start a process I’d been thinking of since long now- highlighting MicroInfluencers from time to time – as and when I discover a few- and as and when you lead me to some of them.

Here is one- and quite with times too.

MicroInfluencer(TM): Danny MacAskill a.k.a the urban cycllist

Danny MacAskill- a bicycle mechanic. From Edinburg. Pretty obscure- maybe known in the local circuits. And then one fine day, he and his roommate decide to shoot a video of his ‘stunts’ en route to work.

Dave Sowerby- his roommate picks up a cam and shoots some excellent videos over the next few months. The founder of Inspired Bicycles- Dave Cleavers- (who has a razor sharp marketing brain it seems- following the success of the video- he has come up with new cycles similar to those of MacAskill’s and his bike brand has got some cool buzz going on the net. For his brand, he has started what I call the BuzzLifeCycle and is riding a meme at the right time) then had it put in YouTube. What results thereafter is this:

• More than 13 million views
• Highest viewed sports video on YouTube
• Spread all across the net via blogs and other social networking sites

Danny had made it- and like this article says- his life could now be phased as “Before youTube” and “After YouTube”. The video became a Germfeed Item that spread really quickly and constructively impacted Danny’s life.

This is the video that started it all – in case you don’t happen to have contributed to the 13 million views:

The video caught on like wildfire and soon enough not only Danny gets interview requests but even gigs- like this professionally produced ad for  recruitment company/website.  The story from the sponsors here.

What followed the epic first video was a flurry of interviews/articles and presentations from mainstream media. Worldwide recognition.

This excerpt from the NYT article sums it all:

One day, he was asked to appear in 10 countries. Filmmakers wanted to make documentaries about his life. Advertisers pounced. Big companies, like Red Bull in Britain, lined up to sponsor him. People wanted his autograph. Ellen DeGeneres, who bears a faint resemblance, wanted him to dress up as her and ride around Los Angeles. The Doves, a British rock band, wanted him for a video. Lance Armstrong called MacAskill’s video “a must watch.” A circus in South Korea wanted to hire him to perform stunts.

Danny is from Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye. Go figure where that is (clue in the beginning of the MicroInfluencer intro topic). From an unheard-of town to worldwide acclaim, being invited across the world for adverts and paid gigs. It’s a long way baby- in a pretty short time. You will soon be a MegaInfluencer.

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!

Advertising campaigns on the digital medium are an inherent part of Digital Marketing initiatives by bigger brands.

They offer immediacy, instant results, and if done right, can be less intrusive than they are perceived to be.

A few years ago, the hottest thing in online advertising was the shoskele- an ad unit- that almost hijacked the page due its overlay properties- did its thing and went away to settle down in a smaller, regular size banner.

The argument against it could be that it is hugely interruptive. however, if you integrate your creative and media together, it can be less intrusive and more enjoyable.

In my many previous experiences, I have seen that weaving various elements together can give you a great RoI- we have seen CTR increases- but more importantly people were clicking on ‘Replay’ and watching the ad all over again!

I found this new ad- being promoted by a French crime TV series called Braqupo.

They bought the media on YouTube and MSN. Watch how it works.

Braquo ad on youtube.com from Jay Salvat on Vimeo.

Typically these kind of media buys are done on a daily basis, and not on a impression basis. And they are not cheap. Can set you poorer by about $20k-30k a day for one day on one of these channels.

Not only is this ‘Rich’ – use of video, audio and animation elements, it even interacts with its environment- the web page content- which was only possible in this type of media buys.

You could reach a reasonably sized audience- and get more impactful awareness – probably it could still be cheaper than TV.

Shalabh
(@shalabhpandey)

Everyone has seen some version of “Did you know” series. The series aims to highlight some amazing facts about digital media. And puts all the trends in context.

I am embedding all the four videos from the series here:

Did you know version 4.o (courtsey Digital Trends)

Did you know version 3.0

Did you know version 2.0

Did you know version 1.0

Enjoy
Shalabh

I was on a panel at the Social Networking World Forum Asia  held in Singapore recently.

Posting the audio podcast here- will soon follow it up with the video version.

In case the above player does not work for you- here is the direct link to the audio to play online or download to your players: Shalabh Pandey at Social Networking World Forum Asia

The Panel’s topic was

Home entertainment, broadcast television and social media

and the topics covered were:

• The marriage of online video and social media
• How communities can help develop better TV programming
• Using social networks to engage new audiences and expand reach
• Integrating social media within the Television proposition
• Developing pay-tv with web 2.0 applications.

Panelists:

Thorben: CEO Orsiso

Nicolas Colinos, Deputy Sales Director, Eurosport Asia

Shalabh Pandey, Digital Marketing Thinker and Strategist, Singapore

Chaired by Euan Wilcox from The Upper Story (Who did a great job in steering conversations)

The premise or build up was thus:

Premium content and advertising is fast becoming a key strategy allowing social networks to monetize their sites. Viral content distribution has created a valuable new inventory for advertisers and a new business model for the entire media industry.

We look at at content services, the strategy behind there delivery and how this can be developed.

In the audio clip, podcast and video, I have basically cut down the talk to my opinions – so apologies to the rest of the panel members- I will take the first opportunity to upload entire content (runs into 3 GB+ and it is a pain- so had to cut down)

Think about it

Shalabh

Whew!

We did this about a fortnight ago. A (apprx) 40 minute discussion caught on video- on Start ups, funding story and advertising on Social media- amongst many other things. Between me (Shalabh Pandey) and the CEO and co-founder of Orsiso- Thorben Linneberg.

I finally managed to clean up the video and uploaded the final video brainstorm- after about 2 weeks of having shot it.

Featuring the entire series in 4 parts- so enjoy this over the next few posts.

Part 1 of 4:

This is our first time doing a video- and the quality is a bit low. The video was on analgue tape- and I had only Windows Movie Maker- to help me with the editing. There was a time lag between the video and the audio- which was proving impossible to curate in WMM. And hence the quality is still not up to my satisfaction, but after having spent close to 25 hours or more on this- I thought I’d better get this up and running now.

The problem with me is I cannot compromise on quality of end product- and that pushes me to do as much as is within the outer boundaries of my limits.

But I believe web video is the future- and there are learnings for the next time.

• One learning has been that even though you can manage without the best equipment and software- it is not advisable to do so. You end up spending too much time and effort just cleaning the whole thing up.
• Another learning for me has been- in the absence of external mikes, speak up! My voice is a bit soft, and I also have a bit of a hunch- and since video is about presentation, it shows. Tip to remember next time.

Overall, it went off well- we had some help too- from Orsiso’s side- we had Laurent Roux- Business Director- helping co-ordinate- and from ChasingTheStorm we had some great help from Mohd Hisham with the camera set up.

The objective was to introduce Orsiso and alongside also have a little discussion session around the Web landscape of today.

In the first section, we discuss largely about Orsiso- how it aggregates various social networks and organizes your social life on the internet.

In the second section, we move on to discussing advertising and social networks

In the third section- we discuss whether downloadable applications are back or the browser based applications?

And in the last section, we discuss How to market a start up- basis Orsiso’s experience.

Enjoy!

Shalabh