The internet is a funny thing. Everyone has their own perspective on it, but there seems to be a general consensus amongst the learned on one aspect: that the Internet has helped make people and societies more open and free to new ideas and influences.
Well. Not sure if that’s really true. In fact, the internet, esp. social media (we’re looking at you, Facebook), seems to be making everyone increasingly uniform in thoughts and behaviours. It is slowly erasing the quirks of individuality and spreading a web of conformity across its population, where people who like cats and tag holiday pictures from Goa are ‘cool’, and the ones who dislike cute animals or the DSLR disease are just weird.
Of course, the web lets us indulge in every possible hobby or interest, from philately to light-saber fighting, which is great. But the uniqueness is becoming increasingly confined to the niches, and the masses are becoming more closed to new ideas or challenging thoughts.
Perhaps the best example is the online matrimony business – one of the few which have been wildly successful since the beginning of the internet era in India.
A quick glance at the matrimony websites will show you how they work. They positively encourage you to choose people from your own caste. Whatever caste you can dream of has its own yourcastematrimony.com. Not just the obvious ones like jat matrimony, gupta matrimony, brahmin matrimony, etc. Even the most obscure ones. Do the Khandelwals really only want to marry other Khandelwals?
Perhaps it merely reflects the way Indians work. But the internet here is not helping anyone be more open. If anything, it’s manipulating the caste-focused culture to help us be more inbred. Without it, if your options were limited to relatives and neighbourhood aunties, you may still have had to find someone different. But now you can search for people with the same surname from across the country, even the world.
Google also throws up sites claiming ‘caste no bar’ in their URL. The first thing they tell you is that they have “18 different community channels to choose your life partner from your own caste”. Then there’s a little link at the bottom for ‘caste non-oriented people’. Clicking on it opens a woman’s profile, where the 5th word in her description is, well, her sub-caste.
Maybe, as a capitalistic enterprise, you have to give people what they want. But don’t you also have a social responsibility to encourage ideas and behaviours that could help our societies be more open and free-minded?
On the bright side, there is also a dog matrimony site. They offer Arabian Nights-themed weddings for your dogs, followed by “We are against animal cruelty”. I don’t know about you, but to the male author of this blog, it sure sounds cruel to be dressed (against your will) as Aladdin on your wedding day.
Depending on who you’re talking to, it may sound preposterous, hypocritical, ignorant or just plain dumb. But it’s always, always a whole lotta fun.
Now, this is kind of tricky territory for us, because some clients have been known to find us too thick or too non-serious when it comes to the wonders of social media. (Maybe they’re right?)
But every time we’re in a meeting, or a pitch or something, with people talking about how a “strong, engaged community” is the single most important objective for the brand, we’re just waiting.
Waiting to utter the simple question that instantly transforms the atmosphere and provokes a reaction from every single person.
“Why do we need a community?”
But seriously. We sometimes really don’t understand. And community mostly means a Facebook page.
Maybe it’s a good idea if you’re, say, an ecommerce business (promos, CRM). Or a bookstore (passionate, niche, local audience). But what if you sell bluetooth headsets? Or washing machines? Now we don’t have any research, but we just wonder if people out there are dying to have conversations about washing machines.
“It’s an excellent way of keeping people engaged with the brand over a long term.”
Is it?
In May 2011, Eminem had over 41 million fans. Which is about 41 million more than most brands do.
But the core fans – who interact with the page more than the average (which is usually once) – were 575.
That’s 0.001%.
And that’s Eminem. People generally tend to love him a bit more than their washing machines.
Also, the way Facebook works is poorly understood. Most people consider the million or so fans they have as a captive audience of minions waiting to hear the brand’s message and scream ‘Wah-wah, wah-wah’.
In reality, it’s nothing but an illusion. Unless you have actively interacted with a page – continuously over time – Old Zuck’s secret (dubiously acquired?) algorithm will make sure you never see its updates again.
In reality, about 96% of fans will never visit the page again, after liking.
In reality, links posted by pages get 0.00093 clicks per fan. That’s roughly 1 click for every 1000 fans.
It all comes down to how different, interesting, relevant and creative you can be. And how meaningful your message is.
For an average page, there’s hardly any point.
But let’s just forget all about it. Let’s assume we did have a community of a million people, eager to listen to what a brand had to say. What will we say then? How will it help? Even if we post cat videos and pictures of Aishwarya’s baby and keep a million fans hooked, will they buy our product because of it? Will it have any effect at all?
And then comes the big one. The one that clears the fog of confusion and lets in a bright ray of light to illuminate our befuddled faces.
“Let’e be clear about our objectives here. It is not sales. It’s brand salience, consumer engagement and long-term relationships.”
Ah. Why didn’t you say that earlier? Of course, it all makes sense now.
So. While you’ve been busy decorating your ugly ppts and thinking of witty updates for your social networks, “some people” have been working. And look what they’ve done.
Wonders of Web
This one’s a NASSCOM initiative with some of the biggest online companies in India, and we’ve been bloody proud working on it.
It aims to spread awareness about the many, many ways the internet can help us in our daily lives.
While it may be common knowledge to some of us, you’ll be surprised to know how many folks don’t realize it.
The campaign kicks off with a basic website and 3 videos covering online travel, matrimony and ecommerce. The videos are not your regular animated fare; we had to impart a lot of gyaan without sounding too boring so we’ve tried a new style here.
Why do an online campaign to raise awareness about online stuff, you ask? We did too. But we realized that heavy internet users today are not necessarily evolved users. They may spend half their work hours on Facebook, but they may not know how easily they can pay their bills online.
Center Fresh
Besides the noble pursuits mentioned above, we’ve also been up to some good old wackiness for good old Perfetti.
Center Fresh needed to build on its latest TV campaign and do something ‘fun’.
So we created a series of animated episodes called “Bajrangi Ke Karnaame” (making the TVC’s protagonist a ‘hero’) and a simple little game called “Zubaan Sambhaal Ke” which challenges you to test your tongue.
For the game, we tried a new representation for the famous ‘Zubaan pe lagaam’ proposition. Some say it looks a bit, umm, gross. Pah, what do those girls know. We’re sure you’ll love it. Plus, it has a bunch of those social bells and whistles you kids like these days.
It’s just another e-commerce portal, isn’t it? We’ve been using those things for a while and it was always driven by need. There was certainly no love. So why did we get so addicted to this one?
Well, we’ve used a lot of them and without naming names (in part because most of them are neither memorable nor exactly poetic), we have found them all to be online versions of a wholesale store in Yousuf Sarai. Sure, you might find a good deal on something you’re looking for. But by themselves, they won’t make you want something.
And that’s where Flipkart changes things. They make you want to buy more stuff. On Flipkart.
That is no small achievement. We bet a large part of their customers are repeat users. We sure are (despite a loyalty program conspicuous by its absence).
It’s not just that they’ve worked well on branding and design. They surely have. The site looks and works great, they’re one of the few brands whose web banners actually want to make you click, and their cute little bookmarks are wonderful.
But besides all that, it just works. You order something and you get it. When it’s promised. In a package that could probably withstand armageddon. And even if there’s a glitch, or you contact them for something, you don’t have to wait 2 days for a response or struggle with misspelled tweets and emails (very common with most sites, we assure you).
Packaging ho toh aisi. Warna na ho.
They’ve done the one thing most businesses (or brands) seem to ignore. Focus on the product. So, the whole process – every interaction – leaves you feeling good. Or at least not pissed off. Which is more than you can say for most others. We won’t be surprised if Flipkart alone is responsible for growing the Indian e-commerce market considerably.
By now you’re probably wondering about our hidden motives for this embarrassing fanboy-ism. Well, we don’t have any. We’re just happy to see an Indian internet company get it right.
But as much as we love it, we do think lately they’ve been a bit strained. Maybe it’s just growing pangs and usual problems that come with scaling, but the delays are happening slightly more often and requests are being granted and then ignored.
Still, the fact that we’re disappointed with small things are in part because of the great expectations built by Flipkart itself. We just hope they don’t lose that image of a lovely little online bookshop as they start selling ‘mixies’ and whatnot in the online megastore. For now, we’re staying hooked, and loving it. And waiting for that loyalty program!
Oh, and won’t it be awesome if they surprised you by sending you something from your wishlist for free?
Much has been said about the once-mighty microsite and its fall from grace, but this little post at BBH Labs hits where everyone misses.
But as with all great ideas, there were thousands of bad executions, wasting clients’ money with little to show in scale or engagement as a result … If you make something great, they will come (or watch). Otherwise, they won’t.
The latter part of the latter sentence really is the key. Everyone seems to be convinced these days that nobody will ever visit their microsite and every idea should be based entirely where the “fans” are. So what are your top 5 favourite branded Facebook apps, by the way?
The same kind of blanket rejections extend to “virals” these days. Sadly, amongst our marketers and agencies, there seems to be a firm belief that what they themselves like to refer as ‘virals’ don’t work anymore. It’s all too common to hear something like , “Oh those Sholay-type virals? People are not interested in those now.” We often succumb to the urge to ask which research study they are quoting. We owe this attitude to the ‘thousands of bad executions’ too, each with a horrific, banal Rajnikant parody.
Anyway, the point of course remains the same. Create something truly excellent, and people will watch. With or without Gabbar Singh.
(Thakur, on the other hand, is a 100% guarantee for success.)
Spotted this morning: a nice surprise for our copywriter fondly called AJ (and not-so-fondly called Cookie Monster, Lunch Stealer, Bhookha Darinda, etc.).
Must admit, it bears a striking resemblance to the man himself.
If you see him, you are advised to immediately hide any edible items in your possession.
And the perfect coincidental Birthday gift for him, the latest addition to our library: the all new Copy Book!
It’s thrice as fat as the old one and has a section on our favourite blogger, Dave Trott.
Sorry for the terrible image, but as Homer Simpson would say, ‘Thank God it’s laminated.’
We’re trying very hard not to let all the fame get to our heads.
We were recently covered in HT Mint – one of India’s best newspapers which does not only provide extensive news about stocks and stuff, but also gives balanced, in-depth analyses about important things like insurance and all. And it has graphs and pie charts. And it looks great.
Yes, yes. They’re one of our clients. So? We swear this wasn’t a plug. Would we make it sound like we’re sitting in Abbotabad? Read it here and see for yourself!
At the Digivaasi office, accessible only via a dark, winding staircase*, Sachdeva and creative director Prabhat Bhatnagar explains why that term [viral] is a misnomer.
*Emphasis ours
Picture courtesy HT Mint
That’s Prabhat Bhatnagar in red. Founder and Chief Creative Officer. Who was specifically asked to shave for the occasion and pretend to work seriously. And look, he’s still on Facebook!
Sigh. What can you do with these celebrities, really.
Hello, school kid from classes-6-to-12. We want to talk to you about India’s top educational service with a TV channel and an online programme designed to make learning interactive, entertaining and easy…
Kid: Booooorrrriiiinngggg
You see the problem? There’s no way you can talk to these darned kids. Without using a monkey.
So, if that’s what it takes, that’s exactly what we did.
Here’s a peek into ‘Trapped’- our first Facebook game created for Topper Learning.
It’s a story about a nutty old professor who traps kids in his physics-defying dungeon.
To escape, they must answer his syllabus-related questions quickly (sly, eh? :P) or be trapped forever.
The catch? If you get a question wrong (which those little buggers definitely will, considering they’re playing games instead of studying!), you must trap a friend to balance the hill and save yourself.
Hence spreading the word on their news feeds.
It’s meant mainly for school kids, but you can give it a shot too.
You may have come across the Pepsi World Cup campaign – Change the Game – via the excellent TVCs (in our rather inconsequential opinion) and outdoors designed by Taproot India.
We’ve been trying to do our bit too, with some online applications/activities/thingmajigs.
The idea is to take the idea of ‘Change the Game’ – the revolutionized and unprecedented form of modern-day cricket – and apply it to celebrations.
The way we saw it, the frenzy around the game and the way it’s cheered and celebrated has changed just as much as the game itself.
This is an attempt to capture that and let people cheer and celebrate online like never before.
Reader: “Hmm. Brilliant gyaan. I’m feeling all enlightened. But what did you actually do?”
We hear ya. Here it is:
In short, there are 3 things you can do here.
The first is called Gear Up where you get a nice, smiling picture of yours from Facebook, your PC or your webcam. You can then deck it up with all sorts of accessories and … well, ‘gear up’ to cheer.
Then, you can use this pic of yours to join the Pepsi Wave with other crazy looking fans – which is an online Mexican Wave. Or, you can start a private Wave just for your friends.
Lastly – and this was the awesome-est part for us – you can become a Desktop Dancer.
Which means that you can create a crazy-ass dancing avatar of yours to cheer every 4, 6 or wicket in real time! (And it shows the score too.)
This can happen online on the site or on your desktop by downloading a widget.
In the widget, you can also have your friends’ dancing avatars cheer and keep the score.
Beats the boring ol’ scorecards on cricket sites, don’t it?
A little something we did for Aircel on their Facebook page.
It’s for their new service which lets you post FB updates in your voice.
Which got us thinking, how would your boring old text updates sound like if they could talk.
They’d sound like a dead snail talking to a depressed tortoise, that’s what.
Oh, and don’t ask about the crows. Really. Nobody knows how they got there.
