Tom Roychoudhury

10 Mistakes Brands make on Facebook in the Middle East

2012-01-16T22:44:00.000-08:00

Brands are increasingly present on Facebook today, but a lot of them are getting it all wrong. It's no surprise that there is only one real brand page in the current Facebook top pages across the world. Coca Cola at No 16 is the only Facebook brand page in the Top 20. Unless you count Eminem (No 3), Rihanna (No 5), Cristiano Ronaldo (No 12) and Lady Gaga (No 6) as brands – which they are, but not in a way we know brands.

Disney, Starbucks, Red Bull, FC Barcelona, Oreo and FC Madrid are the only other brands in the Top 50! Today, brands need to understand how to get their Facebook engagement right. At Innovations_Digital we work closely with our client's brands to help them with their Facebook presence. Here's our take on what to avoid as a brand on Facebook...

1. Not responding.
Facebook is a social engagement channel, not a broadcast medium. It's about a conversation not a one way communication. If someone says "hello" or "that's good", the least you can do is respond. Facebook is all about connecting and engaging in a dialog with your fans, your consumers, your followers.

2. Respond, don't fight.
Responding is important, but a tactful response goes a long way in building a brand's social reputation. There's absolutely no point in arguing with an irate customer or a disgruntled fan. Brands should have a pre-set policy on how (and who) to handle negative remarks posted on Facebook.

3. Deleting negative comments
This is actually worse that getting into a FB fight! Deleting a negative comment does not make it go away, it only escalates the matter. Perhaps a direct message to the person posting a negative comment is better. Nestle Kitkat got into a meltdown over deleting negative comments – which became a social PR disaster. Again, having a plan helps. Rather than deleting or arguing and trying to prove a point, have a brand policy. After all, it's about Customer Service.

4. Posting too much.
Brands that are new to Facebook often feel they have to post every day – ten times a day! Wrong. Brands that post too many times a day will get 'unliked' before they know it. People do not want their pages inundated with a brand's posts.
Let's not forget that posting too many times is like sending through too many text messages to your fans on their phones. It's spamming! The average number of posts for a brand should be once a day. Once. If there's a special promotion or limited engagement offer etc, a brand could get away with 2 - 3 posts a day. Anything more, and we have overload.

5. Posting too often, too close
Another big mistake. Social media is media after all, and you can ruin it by posting too many times, and close to each other. Even if you are posting two or three posts, posting them together within minutes of each other is called "clumping" and that's a #fail. Social engagement is about ongoing – meaning nicely spread across, not all in one go.

6. Repeating and re-using published content.
Been there, done that! Reposting the same content is a no-no. Unless you have a new spin on it, or have a new reason to repeat a post, don't repeat content. Here in the Middle East, we have seen brands use the same lame lines week in, week out – asking about weekends, activity plans and more of the same boring by-the-book repeats. Brands need to avoid making this mistake over and over again. That's a repeat offense!

7. Responding too slowly.
While a slow response is better than none at all, brands need to remember that their Facebook presence is in may ways all about Customer Service. And when you set up a Customer Care hotline, it's a hotline, not a slowline. Brands need to respond as soon as possible. The recommended average response rate should be 6 hours or less. A lot of brands get paranoid and have a "respond-within-minutes" policy, but one needs to remember, that yes, while the facebook fan or customer expects a response, and does so as soon as possible, about a 6-hour window is ok. Becuase people have lives outside facebook as well.

8. No descriptions, no signposts
Brands often post their tv spots, photos of events, their print ads without even a hint of what the post is about in the status update. That post is meaningless to anyone else, because unlike the brand's social managers or brand managers, no one really knows what that photo, that link, that video is all about. Always post a description.

9. Repeating everything in English and Arabic. A Middle East problem
Here in the Middle East brands are very conscious of the need to be "socially, politically and linguistically correct". They take this further by making sure every outbound post is there both in English and Arabic. They even go so far as to translate responses into both languages and ensure that everything exists on their page in both languages. That's overkill, that's boring, That's a turn off. Fans posting in Arabic may expect a response in Arabic, but it's not that they can't read English. And unless an Arabic query and response thread makes a huge amount of sense for the brand, there's no real point in translating it and re-posting it. Or vice versa.

10. One way Facebook. No Fan posts allowed.
Here in the Middle East, brands often feel the need for 'moderated content' and their way of 'moderating' is shutting down the fan's ability to post on the Wall. That's removing the half of a dialog, canceling the engagement, the very reason for being on Facebook. Some brands feel that negative PR on their page will damage their reputation, so they shut down the channel. That's totally counter productive to the principles of social marketing.

Ultimately it's about creating an engagement platform that's interesting and friendly. It's about having a regular, conversation with your friends. Brands need to understand the difference between conversations (social media engagement) and communications (advertising and marketing). It's about building a community.

At Innovatoins_Digital, a digital agency in Dubai, we help brands innovate, inspire and energize their experiences and engagements across online, mobile, outdoor, search and social mediums. And, yes, we do get people to "Like" brands on Facebook. By doing it right.

First posted on the I nnovations_Digital blog page on the website.

The best Christmas tech gimmick of the year: Google's "Let it Snow" Search result

2011-12-27T20:25:00.001-08:00

Tech companies great and small always have a gimmick or two up their sleeve, and Google has been known for their screen adaptations and their playful renderings of their logo on the main Search page. But this year’s “Let It Snow” frosting of the search result page takes the icing on the cake.

Just do a search for “let it snow” and watch the flakes fall across your screen until the search result window gets completely ‘snowed’ over and the blue ‘Search’ button at the top becomes ‘Defrost’. What’s even cooler is that once your screen gets completely fogged up you can also draw on the Google search results page like a finger on a window.

As of today (three days past Christmas) the trick is still on, and it may be a nice idea for Google to keep this on through the cold season. So, yes, even in Dubai, we can sit back at our offices or at home and enjoy the snow.

We hope you had a good 2011 and are celebrating the arrival of the New Year. At Innovations_Digital we wish you all the best for the Season. So, let it snow…

Published on: the Innovations-Digital blog

5 Ways to use the Power of Social Media

2011-12-05T05:40:00.001-08:00

You can have a thousand friends on Facebook, and 10,000 Likes, but what do they mean? If you’re running a social media campaign for your brand, how do you convert “Likes” to sales, friends to customers? The whole idea behind setting up a successful brand page on Facebook, and of course getting ‘Likes’ is to truly engage with your best fans – your loyal followers, your brand believers. If you are able to identify – and cultivate – people out there who are genuinely interested in your products or services, they will in some way or another tell others about it. And, eventually, with the trickle down, and with friends trusting friends etc – your following increases – and your chances of selling and moving product gets better.

One way of genuinely engaging your target audience via social media include finding out what your target customers are interested in and then talking to them about it. That’s “content marketing” and this emerging leader in the tools of the trade game is showing up as one of the strongest performing channels – a very close second to e-mail. Yes, brands that are becoming “content publishers” – providing engaging, interesting content are winning the game. When you find it difficult to hard sell – and social media is not for hard sell anyways – creating and publishing content is a great tool.

Content is a great trust tool. If you provide value addition via content, people get to trust your brand. They find your brand and everything they associate with it relevant to their space. They end up trusting your product, believing in it. You get to the top of the top-of-mind position.

Another way is to ask your customers, your target audience about what they really want from you as a brand, or from your product or your industry. When you ask your ‘audience’ what they want to hear, you’re playing their hits, they’ll listen without hesitation – because it’s theirs, not yours. It’s relevant, and meaningful. That’s engagement, not monologue. If you are able to talk to your audience about what their interests are – and then build (or revise) your profile, your benefits around that dialog, you’ve got a winning strategy.

Lead them to where they want to go, not where you think they should. Follow their interests, listen to them, see what they’re really clicking through to, and provide a destination, a result that they want to see, to experience. If you are offering information on a new feature on a camera, no point taking them to a home page. If you’re selling a low-interest car loan, don’t take them to the Financing section on your bank site – take them to a page on the loan and a form that they can apply on.

Hard sell is the last thing you should be doing on social media. Think about it, you don’t go over to a friend’s place for dinner and start selling him your golf set. Friends don’t like that. If you’ve really gotten into “social” media, please do be social. Engage them, tell them a story, provide some information, share a joke, show them an interesting video. You can sell the product downstream.

And, finally, social is about shared experiences. If they genuinely “Like” what you have for them, they’ll tell friends, and friends will tell their friends, and like that it rolls forward. Make what you say easily shareable. If it genuinely adds value, brings a smile to someone’s face, causes a positive reaction – they’ll share it. But it’s your job to make that process easy. Provide all the buttons, the links, the encouragement. And, of course, the right stuff.

First posted on Innovations Digital blog. At Innovations_Digital, a digital marketing agency in Dubai, we work closely with our clients to harness the power of social media.

Notworking on Social Networking: Why brands fail on social networks

2011-11-12T23:17:00.001-08:00

According to the social media analysts socialbakers, only 5% of queries posted by consumers on social networks are answered by brands! Forget being proactive, most brands are not even reactive – they are absolutely ignorant of what’s out there on social. What then is the point of having a facebook page if you’re not going to respond anyway? While the numbers keep growing both globally, and here in the UAE and the region, it kind of seems pointless from a brand perspective if there is no dialog.

Telecoms and airlines seem to have the highest rates of response, while the automotive sector is the least ‘socially correct’. Only 2.5% of social media messages are ever answered by the wheeled heeled. Oh, and the media industry? Just 1% of queries are answered!

In the US, for example, social networks and blogs reach around 80% of active internet users. The US market’s brand-in-social metric is amazing. Around 55% of active adult social network users follow a brand. But are brands responding? In the UAE, there are 2.62 million facebook users. Where are the brands?

Agencies that work with brands are also to blame on this for not showing the way. While the agency scenario is rapidly changing, a lot of the large ‘do-it-all’ ‘through-the-line’ agencies haven’t warmed up to the social trends yet – leaving their brands in the dark and the silent.

At Innovations_Digital, we call this amazing pall of silence and lack of response the ‘whisper mode’. And, this is difficult to understand. Clearly, the numbers are showing where the wind is blowing, but brands don’t have any idea on how to play with the wind. This amazing consumer channel – with its instant feedback, it’s open source field of consumer action and reaction is being ignored. Imagine, the sheer ignorance or arrogance of a brand like British Airways – who started their facebook interface with a wall closed to posts (now you can, though, they’ve learnt quickly).

Social media has both a long tail and a short response time lag. Things happen in the instant. Brands should not sit back and wait to respond – because word about the brand (specially negative) spreads rapidly in the here and now. And brands who shut down communications or delete negative posts when they happen are committing social suicide.

The whole point of being in the social media space is to be social. And being social means to engage in dialog – brands need to realize that it’s not another billboard or newspaper ad. Brands need to remember to be ‘socially correct’ – too many posts, too frequent tweets are also not done – that’s shouting. But to not respond, to wish it away, to hope for the best is just playing ostrich and sand. And that’s dumb. That’s why brands fail in social networking.

Published on the blog for innovations_digital: the digital agency in Dubai

Using Social Networks to check on Job Applicants

2011-10-26T05:43:00.000-07:00

90% of recruiters look at your social network profiles and activities when you apply for a job! And, around 70% end up rejecting an application based on ‘negative’ content found on social networks about the candidate. That’s the way the power of social media has taken hold. Social media monitoring service Reppler surveyed hundreds of recruiters and turned in an anteresting infographic on how social networks and what a job applicant says on them is affecting the hiring process.

So, be a little careful about what you’re posting on Facebook – those wild Friday nights and parties may end up on the recruiter’s desktop. Recruiters definitely check LinkedIn, but most profiles on the ‘business-minded’ profile and networking site are fairly clean. It’s the Facebook wall post, the crazy tweets and the ‘anti-social’ comments across all social networks that have a nasty long tail.

As a digital agency in Dubai, Innovations_Digital works closely with clients’ brands to help develop their social media marketing solutions, and helping their recruiters to use social media is just one aspect of the spectrum.

Click on the link below to see how the full infographic...

First posted on the Innovations_Digital blog

http://www.innovationsdigital.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/How-Recruiters-Screen-Candiates-Using-Social-Media.jpg

5 SEM Essentials for Brand Managers

2011-10-19T00:21:00.000-07:00

While Search Engine Marketing is growing by leaps and bounds (specially here in the Middle East), brand managers need to have a simple check list when working with their SEM strategy agencies to make sure Search yields the results they need.

A typical scenario we come across often is when a consumer in Dubai jumps on to google and searches for a LCD TV. Typically, within 0.17 seconds he gets around 6 million + results, but we know he will probably look through only the first few pages. The Search Engine will quickly look through its list of advertisers and place the most popular ones immediately as ads. And, of course, depending on how well the brand or retailer has done on their organic search strategy (SEO), their listing will appear on the page. And fight for attention with review sites, auctions sites, an Amazon or two, and a blog by a geek. This is where good SEM strategy can kick in to ensure that the consumer is empowered and enabled to make a positive decision for a particular brand, and a particular model being marketed.

1. Each specific search term (keyword, model name, key descriptor, brand, feature etc) should lead to a specific landing page. When I am searching for 'lcd tv' I should not have to trawl through a Home Page and try and locate Products > TVs > LCD > Brandname etc. How often have you searched for a 'car loan' and been proudly introduced to a "Our Leadership" feature on a Bank's silly home page?

2. The specific landing page should be a sales tool for that specific offering. If I am looking for a 18 megapixel camera in my search query, oh, please don't lecture me on the benefits of high megapixel. Sell me the D900. It's not about persuasion in general (time is precious online), it's about specific empowerment information. Don't waste the consumer's time, and don't waste your budget.

3. On the specific landing page you take them to, reiterate the offer you made in your ad copy in the search result. If you have brought them in to your site with a lure of "lowest interest rates on car loans", talk about it clearly, re-sell and shout about that specific feature. They did not click on "free credit card with loan" – so why put that in your landing page headline? Scream "Lowest Interest Rates on Car Loans".

4. Be clear on context (see above) and be clear on content. Make all the information easy to understand, the offer transparent and clear, and the benefit of a purchase decision easy to see and understand. Gather the information you need – ask nicely, and give the consumer what they are looking for – which for the most part is a sense of direction, assurance and the enablement of a positive decision in your favor.

5. You'll be tempted to say a lot since you have already started a conversation per se, but here brevity is key. Try not to provide dozens of links to your main company home page, other product pages, corporate mumbo jumbo etc. When you're saying too much you end up not saying what's really key. And what you say should be relevant – locally contextual, available, and immediate.

Do, of course ake sure that your organic search works hand in hand with SEM, and that your website content – particularly the landing page you created (yes! specific to the keywords you bought) has all the right words in there.

When working with your Search agency, or even developing a basic strategy, set goals and tick the 5 SEM Tips above. You'll be five steps closer to the consumer making the decision that you want him or her to make – in your favor – right there. And armed with that, hopefully, he'll click through to buy, or head off to the nearest retailer. Or bank, as the case may be.

Also published on: http://www.innovationsdigital.com/2011/10/5-sem-essentials-for-brand-managers/

2011-10-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

Because the people who think they are crazy enough to change the world are the ones who do.
To Steve Jobs, thank you for changing my world.

Blackberry OS6: Low Battery Life and how to fix it

2011-10-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

Let’s admit it, the Blackberry OS6 is a battery drainer! There are numerous blogs and forums that talk about this issue, and a lot of them are helpful. We’ve put together a few easy tips on how to improve your battery life using OS6. It is a neat system, with a lot of useful features, but if your battery drains half way through the day, it isn’t going to help.

1. Keep your battery charged, topped up whenever possible. This does no harm to the battery, and this is the first step. Plugging it into the wall socket, rather than use the USB on your desktop. Charge it to the max.

2. Check your network connections and switch off Wi-fi and Bluetooth if you’re not using it. (under Manage Connections). This is a huge savings.

3. Your screen display consumes a lot of juice. Two things: Under Screen Display, turn down the brightness to as low as you are comfortable with. Second, turn the Backlight Timeout setting to as low as possible – like 20 secs or less.

4. Turn off GPS whenever you don’t need it. Under Location Services, turn Location Off. This is a huge and constant power consumer, and this helps a lot.

5. Under Typing and Input, turn off the first option – Key Tone. This adds up through the day, and helps conserve power.

6. Turn off as many Applications you may have running in the Background. On Android, this is a key power saver, and it’s the same with Blackberry. Use the Close feature on the Apps when you are done with them.

7. On the powerful new Browser, you can create shortcuts to your often used websites. Create icons on your home screen to save multiple steps.

8. Limit Media usage. Exit your music player using the Esc key, to shut it off.

9. Switch power off when you know you won’t use your handset.

10. In some cases, this still does not work. And the only way out is to revert back to OS5. This is a bit silly, but hundreds of BB users have had to do this, and are quite reluctant to upgrade to OS6 knowing their battery life will be a problem. See this useful link on how to downgrade:http://supportforums.blackberry.com/t5/BlackBerry-Bold/Downgrade-from-V6-back-to-V5/m-p/1148353#M78311

Published and written for the Innovations_Digital website: http://www.innovationsdigital.com/2011/10/blackberry-os6-low-battery-life-and-how-to-fix-it/

10 Hits from the 70s we love – thank you YouTube!

2011-09-12T02:38:00.000-07:00

YouTube. Gags, stupid pet tricks, car stunts galore. But what we don't realize is that it's a digital treasure trove of all things archived. Including a massive collection of music you otherwise would have had to mixtape or totally file in that draw called oblivion. Thanks to the world's second most popular search engine (yes, YouTube is only 2nd behind Google), today we can find music we grew up on, music we played in our car on our first date, music our folks listened to and today's up and coming music as well. Imagine life without YouTube...

Imagine | John Lennon (Imagine, 1971)

She's Always a Woman to Me | Billy Joel (The Stranger, 1977)
This is one of our all time faves from this awesome breakthrough album by Billy Joel. He had so many great songs on the album, but this one stands out as being a total insight. His magnum opus made it to Number 67 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

[hr]
Exodus | Bob Marley (Exodus, 1977)
Time magazine voted this as the album of the 20th Century! While we prefer the studio version to this live recording, the video shows you the energy that this man was all about. He is an icon for us and some Mondays we get goosebumps when we do Bob mornings. The album the album was ranked number 169 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

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Sultans of Swing | Dire Straits (Dire Straits, 1978)
This is early Dire Straits – it's actually from their first demo tape, and it shows the promise that this English band had.

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Comfortably Numb | Pink Floyd (The Wall, 1982)
You can loop this and keep listening to it, one of the greatest songs by Floyd. The guitar solos are just the best, and it's been one of the best ever performed to date.

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Stairway to Heaven | Led Zeppelin (Led Zeppelin IV, 1971)
The jury is out on this Jimmy Page – Robert Plant classic. Some of our folks around here love it, some are blah. But this is a 70's masterpiece whichever way you look at it. It's placed at No 31 of Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

[hr]
Hotel California | The Eagles (Hotel California,1976)
This was the biggest hit from the band's biggest selling album ever, and was a Grammy winner."Hotel California" is considered by many to be one of the greatest rock songs of all time, it was ranked #49 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs Of All Time". The guitar duet at the end of the song was performed by Don Felder and Joe Walsh.

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Running on Empty | Jackson Browne (Running on Empty, 1977)
Some of the younger Innovations team members didn't even know about Jackson Browne, but he's such an American icon and one of the best from his time. Running on Empty is the title track from his fantastic 1977 album.

Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels —

Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields.

In '65 I was seventeen and running up 101

I don't know where I'm running now, I'm just running on ...

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Message in a Bottle | The Police (Regatta de Blanc, 1979)
A song about a castaway and a hundred billion bottles! What an epic! This is The Police's first Number One hit, and a huge favorite in our studios. We love early Police.

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Time | Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)
This is the absolute epic from Pink Floyd's eighth studio album released in 1973, which has lasted across the last four decades as one of the greatest albums ever produced. DSOTM has sold over 45 million copies to date. It is noted for its long introductory passage of clocks chiming and alarms ringing, recorded as a quadrophonic test by Alan Parsons, not specifically for the album.
Each clock at the beginning of the song was recorded separately in an antiques store. This is followed by a two-minute passage dominated by Nick Mason's drum solo, with rototoms and backgrounded by a tocking sound created by Roger Waters picking two muted strings on his bass.

'Time' is the only track that is credited to all four members of this epic band. You can tell we're Floyd-heads, as this is the only band that has two songs that have crept in on to our iPods for the 70s list!

All of the information is either from YouTube posts or from our favorite source of all things we need to know – the greatest font of digital wisdom – the Wikipedia! Thanks to digital, today, we have music as we work, we can watch our favorite bands, listen to golden oldies... all of which makes life so much better.

First published on the Innovations_Digital website on our blog about YouTube and 70s music

5 Essentials for Building a Successful Website

2011-09-05T03:06:00.000-07:00

Five key elements that you need to keep top of mind when looking to build a successful website are Idea, Ease of Use, Value Addition, the Details and the Team. Everything else is dressing. If you’ve focused on the key elements when building – or re-building, refreshing or looking for a solution – most everything else falls into place.

1. A core idea

A website is a creative project – and it needs a central, pivotal idea – a purpose. No matter how well it is designed, how well the information flows, if there’s no central idea, you haven’t got much to build on. Like Shakespeare’s plays, there has to be a central theme, a good creative proposition. Then it’s easy to flow the rest, to build the parts, the dialogue, the engagement, the stickiness. Decide early on what you are setting out to do – what is the purpose… And, ideally, the purpose is well defined and then implemented via a good idea. The Louis Vuitton site is built around – appropriately – journeys. And it unfolds so beautifully. Old Spice use the tongue-in-cheek Old Spice Man as a storytelling theme and have been doing it well. When commissioning a web project, ask “what’s my core central idea and how are we telling that story?” – and you can ask this question regardless if you are building a site for kids, for transaction, for a bank or for adidas.

2. Ease of Use

Usability is a buzzword that’s been around, but frankly and simply put, this is all about ease of use. How well is your site sign-posted? Is content easy to find? Is information available without digging through seven layers? Are all the relevant bits in the right places? Have you asked the developers to check for intuitiveness – meaning, for the most part – is the journey not down the road less traveled. If it is, they will leave. A good website makes it easy – but exciting, and yes, there is a happy medium. Both outgoing information (what your website says) and incoming messages (what your target audience says or does in response) should be easy – and (not boring, but) predictable. When you arrive at an airport, you don’t want to have to guess where the taxis are.

3. Value Addition

People don’t come to your website becuase they have time to kill. And if they are, you better have some really cool games on! Seriously, ensure that you are adding genuine value to the user experience, no matter what. Are you providing useful, relevant information that they’re looking for, or is it a lot of chest beating in an ‘About Us’ section that’s only relevant to you and your CEO? Does the end-user buying your product really want details on when and how your mission statement was written? Come on! Give them value on every page. Provide details when you feel they’re looking for it, and keep it simple when simple will do. Content, specially copy. is best written by web writing specialists who can look at the project from a user perspective – not from the company’s. And whether it’s images, videos, games, coupons, whatever – it should all add some intrinsic value to the visitor’s experience – and that way they’ll remember your site and come back. And, so remember to refresh the value.

4. Details

Detail is key. Have you provided everything that’s needed to complete and enrich the user experience? Have you provided all the information? And that information is up to date? And the links all work, the copy is fluid (and spelled correctly), the visuals are optimized, the forms easy to fill and return, the price points are correct, the social links all lead to the right destinations – God’s in the details. Get the development team to pre-flight check everything, and have a new set of eyes look through it all before you launch a site or add new content. The best way is to prepare a check list of everything that goes on your site – down to the last level of links, the tiny Like Us icons, the Home buttons – everything – and make sure they all work and they all are aligned, in the right place, the right colors etc etc etc. Restaurants have soft launches, websites have beta. This is so that the wrinkles can be ironed out.

5. The team

Once you set out to build a website, identify a core team. We’re not talking about the agency or the company or the department that’s building the site. But the core team. They are the ones who will drive the project, manage the milestones, reign in the costs, ensure that everything that was promised gets delivered – and on time. Usually it’s no more than two to three people. Seriously, after that you’re crowdsourcing, and websites usually are difficult to manege when you’ve got a stadium working on it. Insist on a lead team that manages the product. All you need is a comfort level, a sense of trust with this core team. After that, it’s their headache to get the best designers to design, and the best code-warriors to do the back-end. Your project may be huge and may need a team of forty programmers – but you still need just two, max three people driving it. Fall guys. Which is why, often, smaller agencies who manage out sourcing well often deliver to tight schedules and high quality demands better. The fall guys are for real, and they have a lot riding on it. Find a good core team, and you’ve got success – you’ve offloaded your headache.

First published in the Innovations_Digital blog

3 Top Viral Videos 2011. Viral Videos Happen, they're not made "to be viral"

2011-07-31T05:01:00.000-07:00

We often get clients calling us up and saying "We want to make a viral video". As we know by now, viral videos are not made, they happen. If the content is amazing, if it's an experience that people will gladly, enthusiastically share with their friends, that's viral. Here are three top viral videos, with millions of views on YouTube and other peripheral viewing channels and blogs.

aso posted on the Innovations_Digital blog

5 Digital driven Trends in the world of PR, Media and Advertising

2011-07-21T22:52:00.001-07:00

Advancements in digital technology, increasing demands of the consumer and the client, and changing habits of media consumption are all creating a new landscape in the ad world. What is emerging is scalable, adaptable, lean, multi-dextrous and nimble. And collaborative. Smart. The new ice age is dawning and the cold wave is technology.

We’re seeing different trends like ‘snacking’, ‘time-shifting’, ‘place-shifting’ in media consumption. Consumers aren’t doing what it tells them to do on TV Guide. They’re not taking orders from brands, but ‘liking’, ‘viralizing’, and commenting/sharing what they like, what they feel in control of. Social media is enabling that. And Search is helping them find the truth. Separating the Well Told from the Real Truth. All of this is catalyzing change. Agency sizes are adapting to what’s needed. Talent is quickly learning to be multi-talented. And revenue streams are increasing every day – yet overall revenue is tightening. The zeroes and ones. They’re affecting us all.

1. Media consumption habits are changing – forcing agencies to think different.

While here in the Middle East, tv is still king, there’s no denying that media consumption is evolving. In Egypt, the revolution and Tahrir Square was not driven on tv, it was written on the wall via facebook. With better connectivity, higher speed, more bandwidth, and the proliferation of mobile – specially the smartphone – it’s now a digital world. And in that world the consumer is choosing when, where and how. Not media moguls and agency planners.

Consumers are clearly defining consumption trends because, with their adoption of newer technologies and channels, and a proliferation of devices, everything changes quickly. They’re watching tv programs downloaded on to their iPads. They’re using coupons built into apps. Catching a brand message built into a MMORG (massive multi player online role playing game).

Entertainment at home has gone full circle. It’s done the lean-back-to-forward-and-now to-back-again.We used to consume media at home leaning back on our sofas. Then, with online, and hulu and YouTube and facebook, and Video on Demand, we looked towards our computer screens for our entertainment – leaning forward. Now, with tv manufacturers building internet right on to the massive LED 3D sets, we’re leaning back again. Except that out attention is now divided.

How many of us watch tv today, with our iPads in our hands? It’s a fragmented attention society we’re in. We’re driving but talking on our mobile. We’re watching tv, but the computer is on, the skype is beeping, the phone is ringing and the washer dryer LED screen is playing an YouTube How-to video. As agencies we want to help our client’s brands cut through this clutter?

We’ll have to think different. Successful campaigns kick start with integration and 360° thinking built in. Not facebook added on in the end, or a sms broadcast done with a leftover few dollars. And genuine, media neutral strategy needs to drive communications and engagement – which may or may not result in every possible media channel being used. Some campaigns work great on tv. For others a simple Search campaign on google combined with a good SEO strategy maybe enough. Or a twitter drive. What needs to happen is a for agencies to start taking a honest look at need and then deliver on that. Unchained to the what they learn in ad school or what their CFO’s bully them to do.

2. Technology is calling for multi talented people – single armed dinosaurs are at risk

The specialist today is the great generalist. The genuinely multi-talented guy who can develop strategy, create and design content, delve in and direct conversation in social media and lead the whole agency effort is the much sought after. What is emerging is that increasingly clients are asking their mainstream agencies to do digital, and vice versa. And in both these situations, the client is winning. What we are seeing is that digital agencies are usually staffed and led by people who are digital/analog at the same time – they’re part of a new breed who switched to digital specialization having started off their careers and their training in mainstream advertising, media and PR. Usually, these ‘digital’ focused agencies are far more 360° capable than the bigger mainstreams who are trying to do a late game-saver at digital.

An ad agency used to have Client Servicing and Creative. A media agency had Planners and Buyers. And PR had ‘PR folks’. Life was simple. Today you have Social Media Strategists, Community Managers, User Interface Designers, Search Copywriters, Outsource Management Directors, and YouTube Videoographers. YouTube Videographers are the ones with the iPhones. Who also are Social Media Content Creators, SEM Feedback Specialists, Mobile Game Surveyors and iOS Version Specialists. One device. Ten talents. That’s technology for you.

Don Draper of Mad Men hires a digital juggler

All this means that the talent gene pool is getting smaller with fewer people needed. The highly specialized is being replaced by the highly skilled and multi talented. The fact of the matter is that technical skills are becoming easier, and thanks to online, an incredible bank of resources are at hand. Instant help is a click away, as is a lesson in video editing or HTML5 bug fixing. And, finally, collaboration and outsourcing is making a lot of sense. Smaller agencies are often working with each other, often under white label and producing cheaper, better, faster, and then some. And beating the big ones. The piranhas vs the whales.

3. Social media is changing the control room. As is Search.

Let’s face it. The consumer is in control. It’s theirs vs ours. The facebook wall post, the tweet vs the brand tv spot. The unedited vs the edited. Free vs paid. That’s the consumer manning the control room. And Search is providing even more tools, more information, more reviews, insights and help for the increasingly wary and aware consumer. If the brand message as drafted by the creative agency, as placed by the media agency and as advocated by PR does not resonate with the consumer, it not only doesn’t reach, it self destructs.

Don Draper and Mad Men staff check out the new digital age with a visit to Google

Naturally, social media today has become an integral part of how agencies function. Creative mainstream agencies, media agencies and PR agencies are all fighting to create offerings in the space and gain largest share of the pie. The bigger ‘advertising’ agencies are discovering that while they are still ad agencies, their business model (with or without them) has evolved from advertising into engagement. From one way into two way, or as they say, with social media, into a freeway of multi point conversations.

With Social Media, one cannot guess what works and what doesn’t. One soon finds out – there’s plenty of ways to measure that, but it’s in the here and now, and it’s meandering, changing, adapting. With Search thrown in, you’ll have to realize that there are no more start and end dates to campaigns. Say hello to the long tail. Today, once you’ve started a dialogue, the show must go on. It’s a never ending spot.

Finally, the wall between the media agency and the creative agency is now being pulled down, as social media is marrying the two. The contact point is just as relevant as what you say on it.

4. Revenue streams are increasing. Revenue is decreasing. Huh?

Yes. Revenue streams are increasing. A few years ago, no client would call us and say “we need six YouTube videos shot for our launch”. There was no facebook page. No in-banner game. No SEM. With the advent of technology, social media and online and mobile media we are seeing a huge widening of the revenue stream spectrum. Every day there’s something new that consumers are playing with, and brands want to be in that space. Our world is becoming idea driven media-neutral. Once we know what to say, there are several ways we can communicate that to our target audiences and that all put together for those in this industry mean more revenue streams – more channels, more creativity, more executions, more billings.

But not more revenue, necessarily. More and more clients are discovering that expectations of quality are getting lower, or, because of technology higher, better quality is available cheaper and faster. Also, as mentioned earlier, talent is multi-dextrous, and is able to do five things one a project, thus making it feasible for agencies to lower their costs. And clients are demanding that agencies take a serious look at outsourced work – when outsourcing makes dollars and sense.

Mad Men agency folks meet around Don Draper... A drink is needed as Revenue is down.

Take a PR agency model for example. A brand’s typical PR on a launch would usually wrap around an event, a lot of ink in the media about it, interviews in newspapers, tv about it etc. The revenue stream was about that product, that launch. Today, the PR machine works 24/7. Beyond the launch, beyond the event, way beyond the write-up. It’s maintenance on facebook, the tweeting, the responding, the YouTube Videos, the un-boxing of the product on blogs, what not. Yet, put together, as a new, emerging, tech driven digital focused revenue stream it’s small compared to traditional. It’s less revenue.

5. Medium is the new hip. Agency sizes are adapting to new demands.

As marketing communications are increasingly moving into new media, agencies are moulding, morphing into everyone can (or should) do everything models. Smaller teams are more effective, brand knowledge gets contained better, institutional memory gets sharper, and streamlining helps everyone. Large multi-floor agencies are in a position where they don’t need huge teams working on campaigns any longer. Thus they don’t need to be huge to be effective. And with collaboration, multi talented work forces, advances in technology and smart outsourcing, they can be more effective when they’re just the right size for the need. Which is usually a medium size. Which works rather well with the more-revenue-streams-but-less-revenue model.

Don Draper of Mad Men - realizes in today's digital world, medium sized agencies are doing better

Because new media makes new demands, today’s successful agencies are ensuring that these demands are met as standard rather than specialized, and that the workforce is as adept at working on projects or campaigns that integrate social media, blended search, media and content as one, as they are on traditional media such as ones on tv, radio and outdoor. While it is becoming the trend to try and own as much of the campaign pie as possible, agencies across PR, media and advertising are facing the reality that with technology, with advanced communications, and with a little impetus from clients, it’s possible without being big. Medium is the new hip. Or small. Who are discovering the magic of collaborative wins.

At Innovations_Digital, we pride ourselves as being a multi-dextrous ‘influence’ agency that uses the power of multiple emerging mediums and technologies to drive the brand message home. We don’t create advertising, we help the brand positively influence the consumer. And that can come from anywhere, anyone anytime. We just channelize those energies.

First posted on: http://www.innovationsdigital.com/blog/

Five web design trends for mid-2011 that you cannot ignore

2011-07-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

The lines between design and development are fading. It’s the marriage of form and function, and that is a true beauty. Which essentially means that design has grown up, become responsible, and it is is now a team player with technology. Halfway through 2011, and there are a few dominant web design and development trends that seem to have emerged leaders. Before we go into detail, we need to remember that lately, emerging technology is affecting how web designers are planning and executing their work. Let’s look at five interesting mid-year trends…

1. Adapting to touch screens

Thanks to Steve Jobs and Apple, navigating the world wide web is moving fast from being driven by mouse and keyboard to thumb and finger. Thanks to the huge rush and take-up of the tablet format (a bow here to the iPad of course,), and smartphones, and even some desktop hybrid monitors – navigation has become a lot more tactile. It’s now touch, not click, and everything is at our fingertips. This is going to change web design hugely.

The tablet format, or even the mobile has thrown a curve ball at designers by introducing viewing orientation change. We need to be conscious that the viewer can via one flick of the wrist switch from horizontal to vertical. This is called ‘liquid layouts‘.

Then of course, with touch screen navigating, there is no hover or rollover. So how does the visitor know which one’s a link, which one’s not? How do we indicate links? How does a finger successfully navigate, hold and then go into a sub menu on a pulldown? It doesn’t. So, design needs to be aware and change.

2. HTML5

Yes, HTML5 is here for good. Thanks again to Apple and their avoidance of Flash, new format sites with any form of animation are headed towards HTML5. Our clients are increasingly asking for it. Flash-based uber designers are feeling the heat. Even in its infancy HTML5 is making huge inroads. Flash is still very much around, (see our post on HTML5 vs Flash earlier), but it’s a changing world, a new order.

While on this topic, one must mention the emergence of CSS3 in design. Elements like transparency of images, text handling etc are now easily done using code, not Photoshop. Yet another hit at Adobe?

3. Small screen vs big screen

This is a conundrum. Yes, for web design we have to be, we must design (thanks to smartphones) sites ready for mobile, ready for tablets, ready for anything. Without blinking and forgetting that while every one’s rushing off to do mobile-ready main sites (not made for mobile sites,but one site that can play on both screens), there’s this new trend of absorbing online media on our tv screens. All major tv manufacturers have introduced ‘internet-TVs‘. It’s tv and internet together at last, and designers are scrambling to utilize all that wonderful open space. The best trends are towards a happy medium. The best designers are searching for the holy grail – the one common solution that will work from 6cms to 60 inches!

4. Ready for a thumbnail view?

Increasingly, today’s Google user is making a go/no-go decision by using the magnifying glass next to the result of the search query. People want to see what you have out there on your site or the page quickly. They use the Magnifying Glass icon and there’s a preview. No longer do they need to go to your site by clicking through. Designers need to be aware of this quick look trend. How does the page look like in micro mode? Oh, and if it’s in Flash, then forget it. As today’s web visits become shorter and more user driven rather than design or brand driven, the ability to grab quick attention is key.

5. Simplicity and large scale photography

Forget the small format tiny little photos. Large, full sreen or widescreen photography is here, at least for the Summer of ’11. Web designers are going where no man has gone before, and treating us to full screen, high-resolution visual treats. Thanks again to the tablet format, I would say. And, it’s not just designers and photographers or magazines. Tech companies like Teletech, restaurants like Kuletos, and retail sites like Chicago L Shirts are all now fullscreen widescreen and gorgeous!

The other design trend is color simplicity. Monochrome or two-color sites are suddenly the norm this year. Web design in primary colors or across a single palette are pleasing to the eye, uncluttered and making big impact. Shun the temptation of the 256 color web safe palette. Minimal is now in.

This is 2011. And it’s liberating. Design is collaborating with tech and bringing us harmony and intuitiveness. At Innovations_Digital, we call it design ergonomics.

From the blogposts at: http://www.innovationsdigital.com/

What does a media agency do?

2011-07-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

Traditionally, a media agency strategically plans where and when your advertising and marketing message should appear. The agency, ideally, helps you buy the space and puts your message on it. Today, media agencies have evolved beyond that definition and morphed into ‘communications agencies’ meaning they do a lot more than just tell you where to put your message or when to put it. Today, because consumers have changed the way marketers plan their strategies, and have adapted so many new channels – mostly due to the advances in digital – agencies have to have multiple efficiencies, including strategic planning, buying clout, social media muscle, content development, mobile media versatility and more.

With digital, the lines haven’t just blurred, they’ve auto-erased. Media agencies worldwide are fast acquiring, hiring, renting, even, content creation talents or agencies to become a complete solutions provider for their clients. That’s the nature of how today’s consumer’s use and dependence on digital focused channels of communications have changed the way media planning agencies behave in the ecosystem. You cannot put your head in the sand (and there’s lots of it around here) and stay in a silo.

We don’t look at digital in isolation, because digital is part of every day life and can no longer be viewed (as is often done in this region) as a ‘by-the-way channel’. Agencies today provide strategic consulting and execution on how best to leverage digital for a brand’s communication; how to optimize digtal touch points, develop strategic engagement plans across all media, look at new areas like social networking, search, viral, mobile and web 3.0 for true integration. Media solutions today include a 360° approach where clients are being provided with knowhow, expertise and final product including the development, design, programming and full content.

But one cannot forget that life at a media agency is not all zeroes and ones. Online and mobile isn’t everything, and at least here in the Middle East, tv is still ruler of the domain. And no Arab Spring is going to change that, facebook or no facebook. At the end of the day, come Ramadan month, the sofa and the tv are the hot zones in the home. So, understanding traditional media channels – tv, radio, newspaper, magazines, outdoor – and being able to tell the client how, where, why and when his message should go on is still key.

Media agencies first of all need to understand their client’s business needs, understand the market dynamics and be able to focus the message to consumers via channels that best resonate with the target audience. Beyond that, media agencies bring efficiency to their clients across media planning and negotiation points as they have the specific expertise, volume leverage and theoretically deliver economies of scale and reduce per media booking transaction cost. That’s the basics. A typical media agency in this region would be UM – one of the biggest media agency networks in the MENA.

Today, media agencies will help you plan how you play in the social media space, they will help you market your brand on Search engine pages (SEM), they will put your message inside taxicabs, organize events, do mail-drops at door steps, send out emailers, write on the sky or the beach, blog, post on facebook, manage your website, put pretty girls with handouts in a shopping mall and almost any other way you can think of communicating. Point is, do they know if someone’s listening?

also posted on:
http://www.innovationsdigital.com/2011/07/what-does-a-media-agency-do/

5 freebies for your next Mobile App Design

2011-07-09T05:13:00.000-07:00

Mobile app design has completely revolutionized the work that goes into icons. While we’re big fans of intricately designed glossy icons, they’re nothing like a good set of clean monochrome icon sets that we can throw into mockups, prototypes and designs.

Here are 5 really cool freebies you can use – compiled by Mayank Garg at innoavations_digital – the leading digital agency in Dubai.
And here is the link to the main post...
5 freebies for your next Mobile App Design

Serving Social Media at Wimbledon this year

2011-06-30T07:12:00.000-07:00

No matter what happens to Andy Murray and the great British hope, taking on defending champion Rafael Nadal – they’ll never look back on how social media is heralding in a new-ish era of ‘open’ tennis – making players and the tournament both easily accessible.

The opening serve or volley, if you will came from Andy Murray and Head. Murray, being Britain’s great hope, is being followed with huge interest as he bumps now into Rafa Nadal.

But it’s not just Andy. Wimbledon, the only remaining lawn (or grass) tennis grand slam has taken up social with aplomb. The official Facebook page does live feeds, and photos are being updated almost as they’re being clicked. There are just under 660,000 fans. The posts are interesting, and sometimes outside the box. I saw a post that linked to a evian promoted page on Wimbledon. Nice bit of code-sharing on that.

They’ve raised the roof so to speak at Wimbledon. With a £100 million roof over Centre Court, Wimbledon will not be held under the weather. And both the official tournament and players are playing it pretty big on social media, mixing tennis on the lawns, strawberries and cream with a healthy dose of facebook and twitter.

Real time online access is now the norm. And, yes, Andy Murray did kick off the Wimbledon-on-Social wave this year with that ‘intended-for-viral’ film for HEAD – the tennis brand that’s trying really hard to keep head above social water, competing with the big brands like adidas, nike, and the new rising ranker – Babolat. HEAD’s ‘Get Closer’ campaign was published on both Facebook and YouTube, aiming to get fans ‘closer’ and more interactive with Andy Murray.

The iPhone App is also a big hit, but overall it’s the Facebook and Twitter feeds and updates that are catching every one’s fancy. The iPhone App of course is not new this year. This is the third year it’s been available, but every year technology partners IBM are working on the app (yes, IBM) to make it both intuitive and useful for spectator and couch watcher alike. With video updates, lots of pics, ground maps, scores, schedules and news, it’s a handy tool for all fans of the purple and green.

Nadal, who’s up against Murray in the ‘really important and nearly the final’ semi-final is also huge on social media. The Spaniard has more than 7,361,073 likes on his Facebook page. That’s over seven million! So are many other players. Sharapova, grunt and all, with just under 5 million fans also has a pretty cool page – and some of her wall photos are rather intersting beyond the grass court. Roger Federer, who had yet another early exit this year at Wimbledon has over 8 million fans on Facebook, and 75,000 followers on his news tweet – but the tweet lines are cold, newsy and impersonal almost. Not very social.

Overall, social media is having a great year at Wimbledon. It has matured in a nice way, and increasingly sports tournaments, sponsors, players as well as fans are being able to genuinely benefit from it all.

posted on: http://www.innovationsdigital.com/index.php/2011/06/serving-social-media-at-wimbledon-this-year/

HTML5 vs Flash. The Battle for Web Content design

2011-06-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

As we speak, more and more web developers are moving away from Flash for animation, video and navigation towards the new standard HTML5. The war over Flash is ongoing, and while it seems that HTML5 is emerging with a slight edge, one has to recognize that it is still under process. It is being continuously developed and improved over time.

Here’s the basic: HTML5 is a language used by developers to present (and structure) content for online. It is the latest version of the HTML (stands for HyperText Markup Language) standard first created in 1990. The very purpose of HTML5 is to improve video or multimedia presentation, while keeping it all easily accessible and understood by multiple computer devices, browsers and platforms.

Flash is still the choice of excellence – if you are building a fully interactive Rich Interactive Application experience – it’s becoming acceptable to nudge away and embrace HTML5, JavaScript and CSS3. With Flash not available across most mobile devices (specially anything from Apple), the migration seems natural. I’ve had clients call me and say “our site isn’t working” only to find that they were checking Flash driven content on their iPads. Core content built in Flash is a downer. Sorry Adobe.

Unlike as in previous HTML versions, where we depended on added-on, propreitary software such as Flash to view video or play a YouTube or audio stream, HTML5 allows for simple tags such as 'video' or 'audio' to do the trick. And do the trick on mobile devices just as well, just as easily. That’s a win.

But wait. There are speedbumps. HTML5 as supported heavily by Apple is dependaent on the H264 codec. And that requires a bit of a licensing fee. Others like Mozilla and Google have pushed for open source formats as support. Mozilla’s Firefox 4 uses Ogg, and Google is pushing for WebM. Sounds familiar? Reminds the older generation of VHS vs Beta?

But do not lose heart. Firefox, Apple’s Safari, Google Chrome, Explorer 9 and Opera are all HTML5 friendly. And it is tilting. Things are finally shifting towards the new format. But there are brands and platforms still holding on, playing both sides of the fence. RIM’s new Blackberry PlayBook is being touted as ‘better than the iPad’ because it plays Flash.

While the Flash player has been free, Adobe’s development kit for us designers/developers has been expensive. HTML on the other hand is free. But all those games developed in Flash are not going to render in HTML5 and this will be a problem going forward. Because HTML5 is executed by the browser itself, and it is not a added-on plug-in, it will possible become the choice of new age developers. As long as the interactivity depicted is simple, ’5′ wins. For complexity Adobe’s Flash is still ahead. And the the jury is still out on which one overall. We’ll see.

more blog posts on: http://www.innovationsdigital.com/index.php/blog-2/

Writing for the web: Less is More

2011-06-16T06:18:00.000-07:00

I’ve been asked this week if there’s some such being as a ‘web writer’ or a specialized copywriter for the web. My answer is yes and no.

Yes, because your average copywriter is usually very adept at writing for tv, radio, print etc and pretty much does more of the same when it comes to writing for web content – and ends up with a lot of words. Their craft is built on the the art of clever verbosity. And no, because, once you’ve figured out that usability on the web demands less and lesser, and the mantra is omission, not commission, than really, any one can write. Less that is. So no.

I know of a McCann big wig who claims that his success is based on his ability to write a clear, precise and meaningful brief in one a4 page. I buy that. That’s an art form right there. And, when it comes to writing for the web, it’s the same thing. We need to avoid writing to fill the page, to defy negative space. All those words, reams of it, there just to add to the volume. Not to the music.

Hope page and section header pages are the ones that are guilty of carrying excess loads as far as copy is concerned. I have had clients send back designs because they felt it ‘didn’t say much about who we are’ on the home page. I had thought that the ‘Who We Are’ page was meant for that. But, clients know best.

If it’s relevant to the page, if it adds value, keep it. As long as you keep it precise. I normally hate bullet points – they look great in powerpoint, but not in ad copy. But they work quite well in web writing. They make the point.

Eyeball tests have shown the average user spends less than five seconds on 100 words. Now, that’s not reading, that’s speedreading – that’s scanning. Picking up clues, sub-heads, bold text and the gist of it all on the way. And, if you keep organic Search in mind, it’s crucial to have all the right words in there without having to repeat thoughts or meander along the way to the main point being made.

A client emailed me to remind me that the copy on the site ‘should exactly follow the one on the brochure’. With word count at a premium on the site, I thought that right there was information design suicide. The brochure had large format pictures, beautiful visual support across an a4 page. Here I had around 400 pixels x first fold. Mistake. Sorry client.

The people who get web writing down pat are the ones at the editorial team for BBC news. Remembering that BBC started off as a radio channel, that’s not surprising at all, because, once you read your copy, you soon realize how much of it is blah blah blah. And cut down at least 60%.Try it. That’s how I do mine.

see more on http://www.innovationsdigital.com/

Digital agency in Dubai, Innovations_Digital refocused and recontextualized

2011-06-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

Innovations_Digital. They're going mostly by I_D these days, giving their brand a today twist. And their product a fresh new flavor, and their mantra of No more same old, same old seems to have sloped out of the room – probably being re-engineered to reflect the new stance as 'digital focused influence agency'. I like 'influence agency'. So, that's a kind of a new approach. And a whole new website at http://www.innovationsdigital.com to boot.

There never were too many digital agency horses here in Dubai town. Used to be Innovations and Flip. And of course Impact. The LBs (who had Arc) and the other agencies did their bits. Now there seems to be a game where anyone and their uncle's in the game, Macbook Air tucked in the Prada man bag, Media City address on card, and very little real experience. Some of these new comers are good. Some are horrid and are creating a bad name for the whole gamut of digital agencies in Dubai. Specially the ones that claim the Social Media territory and sullen the land with their flag. But I meander.

Well done Innovations_Digital. Good on you.

6Ps of How to Select an Agency for the Digital Age

2011-05-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

In this digital focused marketing minefield, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find and select an agency either for a long term relationship or to drive a special project – be it for website design and development, apps, mobile marketing, Search or Social. Post the RFP and the Response to it, or post the initial pitch, how does a brand manager make a choice? How does one appraise the agency?

Here's a quick guide – it's called the 6Ps to selecting an agency that will work with you on your 'digital' project.

6Ps of Selecting an agency for the Digital Age

Project:

Has the response to the RFP or the pitch presentation adequately  demonstrated a clear understanding of what you need done – as per your  brief or RFP? Is there clarity on how the project will be managed, who  will work on it, how much time it will need, will it be tested, will  it be done in-house or managed via outsource etc. Most importantly, is  there a clear understanding of the scope of work, and at least an  outline of the content map, or project definition has been provided.

Process:

Does the agency understand what you need and are able to process that  information correctly? Or did they go off brief? Are they able to put  a thorough and rigid process in place to follow through and deliver on  your project requirements? Have they defined how and who will work in  that process, what your involvement is as a brand? Has the agency  outlined who delivers what and when? Who is responsible for which bits  of content – who manages all the assets (all the things that make up  the content)? Is there a clear dependency guideline – and an  indication of what costs are included, what costs may come up as  extras? When you get 'everything' is included thrown in, look again.

People:

Who is going to be your key team? Who was in the pitch or the RFP  document? Google them accurately. How long have they been in the  business? What is their LinkedIn profile? Are they well established  and well known? What is their experience? Have they worked on similar  projects? Check out people's credibility. You're not handing over your  dream project to an agency brand, you're going to work with people.  Check them out. In this digital age, a lot of people have suddenly  gone 'digital'. Avoid the people pitfall. Work with the best. And  always ask about who's going to work with you. Agencies often fly in  top guns just for the pitch. Watch out for the fly squad. Ask for real  people with real creds.

Pitch:

Was the Response to the RFP or the actual pitch interesting? Was the  pitch professional? Detailed? Looked good? Or was it prepared and put  together last moment? Did it look high quality? If the pitch looks  good, your work will; usually look good. If the pitch or RRFP is  strategically sound, your project will reflect that. The team that  puts in a lot of effort into the pitch documet, and shows you high  quality near-finished work is the one that will work best.

Price:

This is the most difficult one to tick the box on, but pricing is  often seen as the number one decision point. That's wrong. Pricing  should be fair, deliver on value, and be in the ballpark that you  think is right in the market trend. Keep wiggle room in pricing. Allow  to add 10-15% for experience and expertise value. There's always a  cost to someone who has years of experience on projects – and you'll  get ROI on that in your project. Take away 5% if the agency has given  extras that are expensive. This means they're making money on it.  Finally, watch out for the all-inclusive, we will do everything deal.  This means the agency is making money on everything! The best  submissions are ones that have pricing broken down and explained, and  all extras mentioned separately and costed.

Passion:

You cannot put a price on this. Did the team show passion for the  project or the brand? Were they enthusiastic? Did they go beyond the  brief? Did you see details that show care and value addition? Did the  team look hungry and keen for your piece of business? Did they follow  up? Was the response to your request prompt and courteous? Did you  feel the right chemistry? Passion makes a big difference. Seek it out.  Reward it.

Innovations_Digital looking for summer interns from ASD

2011-05-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

This is so cool...

http://www.innovationsdigital.com/index.php/2011/05/i_d-invites-asd-seniors-grads-for-summer-internship/

Custom URL's and how they work

2011-05-26T23:51:00.001-07:00

Dos Equis, the Mexican beer brand, has recently launched an interesting user-generated video based social media campaign called “The Most INteresting Toast in the World”. Quirky, cool, and typically very Mexican beer-ish, the campaign is just about to really gain traction. What’s intersting is the fact that Dos Equis is driving the campaign via a ‘custom’ URL – one that actually uses their tag line: www.staythirstymyfriends.com

Now, that’s not the first time brands choose to use custom URLs for campaigns than use main-brand URL’s with /subdomains. Another beer giant Carib went earlier with passdcarib.com – nice again, call to action built into the domain. Like that.

There are some financial institutions who turn their slogans into URLs — like Mastercard who uses Priceless.com as its consumer-facing website — but the overwhelming majority don’t. For instance, BofA doesn’t own BankOfOpportunity.com. Similarly, neitherTheNextStage.com nor WithYouWhen.com point to Wells Fargo. It’s not just banks and credit unions blowing this opportunity either. The Domain Name Marketing blog points outthat ItsMillerTime.com, DriversWanted.com and, yes, even JustDoIt.com aren’t used by the brands that coined these memorable expressions.

The main reason for a brand using a custom domain or URL rather than the main brand URL is because usually, the main brand is either a boring name, or is a group domain name, or worse, does not really align the product with the brand domain. But really, let’s face it a catchy tagline, a call to action, a slogan surely makes a better domain name – and one that’s usually easier to remember.

Micrsoites or special landing pages have tremendous potential and work much, much harder than a “What’s New” display banner tucked away into one corner on the main website. Giving a campaign, specially one that’s digital-centric and built around social media a custom domain name would be so nowthatsmakingmarketingwork.com

SEO Simplified

2011-05-02T17:31:00.000-07:00

Organic search or SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can really be made uncomplicated – simple – if it's understood what it's really there for. Often performance driven agencies over-complicate things for clients trying to make it into a science. Of course it is science, but it can be simple.

Well, first things first. Get your content right on your owned media. Your content needs to be compelling, intersting and totally relevant to the what the target audience is looking for. The more relevant the content is, and the more the content, the more search engines will be able to deliver. And not only do you need to get the right content on your websites, microsites, portals, blogs, whatever, you need to keep at it. Getting it right and forgetting it is useless. Regularity of updating your information is key.

"If you build it they will come" doesn't quite wotk when it comes to search marketing. Unless you tell them about what you've built, it all remains a hidden gem. So, you do need to support it by telling the world. You can used Paid media to kick off your "tell the world" campaign, but there are so many channels available to us today. Your twitter and facebook feeds, your updates on Foursquare, your connections on LinkedIn. And then of course, get your friends and colleagues, and staff and their friends to tweet and facebook about your web presence whenever possible. Let them tell the world.

In SEO, an interesting, relevant Title Tag is crucial. This is what appears when someone finds your brand/page/blog on a Search Engine page (it's called an SERP or a Search Engine Results Page). This is what people first see when they google you. It is the link they will click on– or not, so get this spot on. This is your copy headline. This is what all good ads are made of – the magic key.

Along with the Title Tag, the meta description tag is also important. This is the brief description (usually one or two lines at most) that appears on the Search Engine result page just below the title tag. You could write this like a sub-headline or even a call to action. While a meta tag has no real SEO page position benefit, a compelling read often will add to your chances of getting clicked through.

SEO, after that is really about the right keywords throughout your site. Make sure that all the right words that describe what you are selling on the site are covered. What will a consumer type in to google when looking for your product or a competitor's? What are related words? What are the right phrases, what are things that could be used as keywords that aren't directly related but could be used as triggers? At the end of the day, if you've ben able to weave these in, you've made a good start. It's not really that simple, but it does not need to be complicated either. That's a start...

UM, Coke, Casablanca and Tagine

2011-04-17T04:50:00.000-07:00

Casablanca in some photographs, specially the outskirts looks a lot like parts of Dubai. Beautiful Spanish style haciendas, tile roofs, pretty landscaped gardens beneath the azure sky. Minus the sand and the dust in the air.

In the main city, French architecture prevails, making its mark over a city that is half lost in time, half very much in the buzz of a modern developing metropolis. Some of the older buildings are stunning. This was my first visit to Morocco, and in two days I felt I had taken a magic carpet ride to a place quite far away. Shining happy people, content with what they have, sharing their simple pleasures, laughing, gregarious, different from the wannabe Dubai world we live in. A real city, with real people, and a soul.

I had gone to Casablanca on a special invitation from Coca Cola Morocco and UM to share with them the State of the Digital Nation. In a half day session, to my rather pleasant surprise, I found a bunch of people in our industry on both sides of the agency-client divide, extremely aware of all things digital, interested , engaged and passionate. The UM bunch were amazing. Fikria Kirani efficiently runs a good media agency there. And Imad Lyoubi, the Account Director on Coke is an asset – a best in breed, if I may say that. And, on the client side, it was a thrill meeting up with a team who were totally with it – enthusiastic, participative, ready for a future we all know is around the corner – with lots and lots of digital in it.

Fikria and Imad were just the most gracious hosts – showing me around the Corniche, the beautiful old parts of town, indulging me in the most wonderful Moroccan food, harissa, tagine, melt-in-your-mouth cookies from a famous old patisserie – this was indeed a business trip I won't forget in a hurry.

But what really left an impression was the business side of things. Their knowledge of digital – online, social, search, mobile etc were par with any one I've met over the last few years, and their thirst for knowledge was pronounced and eager. With a fairly young population, digital engagement seems to have a bright future in that country. And I'm all the more blessed to have a little glimpse of it. Thank you Casablanca.

Facebook marketing. Can I time it right, keep it tight and win?

2011-04-06T22:07:00.000-07:00

I used to get up early morning every day and tweet/facebook post. Early morning for me is usually around 4am, when in my part of the world, where most of my followers and friends are, it's ghost town in social media. The same tweet a few hours later or on a weekend would get a lot of re-tweets and likes. I was mistiming my shot.

Day part planning for digital media has been a grey area for a while, but now, that consumers are quickly adopting media absorbtion patterns that are geared to their day cycles, adapting to the new consumption habits through the day is becoming crucial. No more 4am tweets for me. I'm going prime time.

Sure facebook (unlike traditional tv/radio) can be engaged in anytime, anyplace. But around the world, marketers are discovering patterns of on-facebook engagement. A fascinating study from Buddy Media finds that Facebook has three clear peaks – and interestingly enough, these peaks are outside normal 'workday' hours. While it's difficult to directly translate findings in the US markets to learnings for our Middle East social media scenarios, I'm guessing it's possible to draw some parallels. Facebook in the US peaks at 7am (first thing in the morning checking of posts, updates etc), after work at around 5pm (they work 9-5, yes), and one final late night burst at 11pm. Translated to our region, we could say, that's more or less the same, except the 5pm would be around 6pm-630pm.

So, here's the first catch. This means that for those of us who offer professional social media services to brands in our region, having a team that helps with facebook updates during the workday is more or less being a bit of a waste. Or at least somewhat missing the top marks. It's not that the posts don't stay, it's just that they disappear amongst the so many others competing for attention. And, when our target audience is either trawling through the facebook posts and tweets, some posts done during the day are lost in clutter.

Another interstinug aspect of the BuddyMedia study shows Thursdays and Fridays have a lot more engagement in the US. Does that translate to Wednesdays and Thursdays here in our region where we have an Islamic calendar weekend of Fridays and Saturdays? In geographies where Fridays are a holiday, mornings are usually very lazy. Most malls are still empty until past the afternoon prayers. I'm guessing Friday mornings would be a good time – a prime time on Facebook/twitter. And Thursday evenings when the facebook/twitter set are trawling the web to see what's hot, what's not, and who's going where, with whom.

The study also reveals that the length of the post on facebook (twitter is already short at 140 characters) makes a difference in engagement and impact. Posts with less than 80 characters had more impact! My new mantra then for facebook? Keep it short and sweet. Make like a tweet.

My thought for the day on social media engagement on facebook (and twitter): Time it. Keep it tight. Ask for the like. You'll see the light.

Oh, and if you like this, use either google's new +1 button to tell the world, or Like it!

Bad customer service and viral; Spring Bamboo Chinese in Dubai

2011-04-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

I had a really bad customer service experience, and I came back immediately and looked up the pathetic restaurant and started to pour my comments into every possible review, forum, post and blog.

This is about the Spring Bamboo Chinese restaurant in Oud Metha near Lamcy Plaza, Dubai.

We went with a lot of expectations, because we saw mostly Chinese customers (busloads), but were hugely disappointed with the food, the service and the attitude. I suspect it's ok for Chinese people with a particular Beijing, mainland north chinese taste. And of course, neither the management nor staff are versant in English. Order meat, you might end up with intestines. Order crab, and hope for the best that they don't mis-spell that word...

The waiting staff DO NOT speak English well, (well, barely), and you end up ordering the wrong dishes. We ordered a beef hot pot which ended up being a stew of beef tendons – like arteries – zero meat!! And they were adamant about it – unwilling to change it, compromise or explain. We asked for them to take it away, but they charged us regardless.

The chicken was at best OK, the greens we had were mediocre and soggy. Perhaps Friday night was a bad night after all. Lang Kwai Fong next door is a hundred times more consistent, better staffed, and the food is genuinely authentic chinese. Frankly, we could have been ok with the food, but the service waitresses were so pathetic, we recommend do not ever go there!

Bad experience, and my advice? The food may be ok, but if the service is bad, avoid it. Spring Bamboo in Oud Metha Dubai #Fail!

Brands are becoming media

2011-03-09T21:22:00.001-08:00

Here in the Middle East, it’s a little slower on the uptake than what’s happening in the West, but brands today – powered by YouTube, facebook, twitter and even the blogosphere are becoming independent – and relevant – media channels by themselves.

Because, combined with digital production and planning agencies, brands are now increasingly aware of the power of combining owned, earned and paid media. They’re creating content and publishing it, pushing it across channels that they are able to create. They are hiring either creative talent within their own ‘marketing’ functions or are freelancing it out. Or getting agencies in to combine content and media – creating and masterminding editorial, written, video, audio and to-be-shared social and viral content.

This is probably because there isn’t enough good content in the market out there. Brands are increasingly creating and crafting what they want to say or want said about their brands, rather than depend on bloggers and independent creators, or even existing media channels. So, a fashion brand may create their own ‘how-to’ content for a YouTube channel, rather than depend on, here in the Middle East, a Yahoo Maktoob…

Al Jazeera’s new twitter dashboard tracks uprising voice

2011-03-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

This is coming from Al Jazeera, and yes, we’re here in the Middle East. After having heard for years that we’re kind of behind everything (including walls of censorship), here’s something that is kind of new, and very much a first-ever from a traditional news channnel that is broadcast (or tradional media) based.

The dashboard tallies the daily number of tweets about developments in each listed country (the site is currently tracking Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Bahrain) and shows the average number of such tweets per minute for each country.

Without a doubt, Al Jazeera were the world’s eyes and ears for the many uprisings that have swept across our part of the world. Often fueled by social media and fanned by thousands of followers across the world, the uprisings were uniquely covered by the Qatari channel – and covered well.

The dashboard provides a quick view of from where and how people use twitter to discuss uprisings in the Arab world. A kind of mash of geographic location and emotion tracker.

What if?

2011-03-05T20:42:00.001-08:00

Tunisia. Egypt. Libya. Yemen. Iraq. Oman. Bahrain. Algeria. Morocco. Jordan. What sounds like a list of agency locations across the region is really a country by country trail of the Arab uprisings of 2011. It all started in a small Tunisian town and fueled by the Arab youth’s power to communicate, build momentum and gather information and disseminate rhetoric via the internet and on the street until it became a tumbleweed of a game changer. Often, heads of states have fallen, and in others, change of governments or of those wielding power at ministry levels have been brought on by the people in the squares, on the streets.

It took one frustrated, angry vegetable seller in Tunisia who set him ablaze to usher in the ‘Jasmine Revolution’ in Tunisia – the kick starter. Then, in nation after Arab nation, the youth armed themselves with mobile phones and computers, and brought down the power of the gun toting mighty. The pen vs the sword. And the pen (or mouse) won without fail (even as we’re watching what’s unfolding in Libya).

For the first time, collectively at least, this part of the world has woken up to the power of social and political mobilization via social media. One ‘protester’ from Egypt told me how ‘yet another time America had helped change the goalposts in the Middle East’ this time without flying in troops and tanks. “After all, twitter and facebook are American” he explained. I’ve known Bassem (name changed) for a few years. He has been fiercely anti-American. This time around there was almost a quiet acceptance of a helping hand in the form of technology.

Social media and technology of communicating beyond the print and broadcast media is enabling freedom of speech to levels unprecedented in the region. “People are creating their own channels, most of which are beyond any censorships” observed Fadi Salameh, CEO at MCN and a media guy at heart. “I believe this may change where and how we target these demographics as media planers, down the line when everything has settled” he added.

And one more. With all this grasping of the powers that reside between the tweets and the facebook posts, I wonder (and frankly fear) the Sword of Damocles that the powers that be at these social media HQs will face. How will this freedom of speech, open channel networking, and the absence of censorship or control stand up and be counted when (and not if, is my fear) it’s used by the ‘people’ on the ‘wrong side’? After all, freedom of speech and social media can be radicalized. 140c at a time.

Ad Agencies in Egypt Reopen as Protests Continue in Bahrain

2011-02-20T17:12:00.002-08:00

from my blog published in Advertising Age
http://adage.com/globalnews/article?article_id=148943

MCN Chairman Akram Miknas has a view down to the square where the protests in Bahrain are unfolding, swelling, gripping yet another Middle Eastern nation. He is mesmerized. One by one, in countries where people feel marginalized, deprived and where they have no voice, they’re gathering togther to say ‘Enough!’. But this is Bahrain and Miknas has a love and long history here. He and his family are honorary citizens – a very rare honor. Over frantic calls from family and friends, Miknas watches the gathering masses, not knowing what would happen next, and wonders how the next few days would affect his advertising businesses, his clients, his country.

MCN – an Interpublic majority owned company runs several key agencies in the region – including McCann FP7, UM, Lowe, Initiative, Weber Shandwick, MRM and more – and Miknas has seen the industry and his business being affected. In Egypt, the office has come back to life now, playing catch up after more than week of shutdown, but it’s been really bad for business. In Tunis, things are normal again, but who knows, Miknas fears, what is about to unfold across the region. Clients aren’t always very bold in uncertainties – media plans and tv shoots get cancelled in seconds. Business can move from great to good and spiral into ‘wow, now what’ in hours.

As I post, Thursday Feb 17th noon here, things aren’t going well. Bahrain police have catapulted the situation into high alert – aggravating the protesters. Tomorrow is billed to be huge there. All social is buzzing. Caught between the fight for rights, between sectarian (Shia vs Sunni) stands, and not knowing what they’re shouting for, it’s a mess. No better in Libya. No worse in Yemen. No nothing in Iran, for fear of getting killed. And, steady, steady, wait and watch in Egypt. Oh, and our industry?

More than one client is asking the social media question. If everyone’s attention is on the social channels or on protest-centered news, how come media planning agencies haven’t scrambled and gotten into the social action more heavily? How come the creative agencies haven’t quickly responded with viral videos and interesting creative that would thrive on this new focus?

The advertising industry is playing cautious. Every one is quick to recognize the mobilization tools for the protests – the internet, mobile, social media – but we’re not seeing quick shifts away from traditional tv and print into social and search built around the new momentum for brands. Particularly for global and regional brands who have no idea which way the power tides shift. And who have to remain loyal to the immediate. “How come your brand won’t wave our flag now?’ asked one protester, about why brands were shying away from taking the side of the young, and supporting them with wither “direct or subliminal support”. “We will remember this” he warned me.

Starting in Tunisia, then rolling across like thunder in Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Iran – this whole new age concept of freedom across the internet is contagious – and the youth in this region are clicking on faster then you can say democracy. And, lest we forget, more than 55% of the population in this region is under 24. And a huge number of them have mobile and 24/7 access to the internet.

One client-side marketing manager, at a key regional pitch for a rather large account in the region, pointed out that all the econometric modeling and media absorbtion predictive tools had gone for a toss – they didn’t see #Jan25 coming. Nor the emergence of Al Jazeera TV as a channel with their live coverage. Or google as a tool for the information hungry.

So, no, TV wasn’t top dog in Cairo for the youth segment the last couple of weeks. Nobody was watching our spots. Advertising as we knew it in the region with tv as hero was suddenly in flux. Messages were more real time, more crisp, shorter, relevant, behaviorally targeted in the immediate. They weren’t formatted for 30s. They were 140c.

Posted on February 18, 2011

Fighting With Social Media Until Now, Egyptians Prepare For More Physical Battle

2011-02-20T17:12:00.001-08:00

From Advertising Age / Global News

It’s very early morning in Cairo on Wednesday and I’m being told on the phone that the protesters are bracing for the worst. Omar Sulieman, the Egyptian vice president, has warned that his government “can’t put up with continued protests,” reflecting the regime’s wrath at what’s now 16 days of pro-democracy protest that’s had global coverage. With his “no ending of the regime” stand getting even harder, and the protesters even more determined to “stay until they go,” most of my contacts are preparing for an all out. “We’ve tried hard on Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger,” said Ahmed. “Now we’re preparing for battle.”

The revolution may no longer just be tweeted. It will be bled.

Necessity is the mother of intervention. When all else failed, they went Bluetooth and memory stick. Day after day, as one communication door closed down, the people in Egypt have used new doors and intervention and invention. When all electronic channels were shut down, it went physical. Tahrir Square, #Jan25, #Egypt. The first “phygital” revolution in history.

Change doesn’t happen on a social network alone, change happens on the street. It’s physical, it’s blood, sweat, fire, rocks, bullets.

There’s a set of the urban hip in Cairo who are now pounding the streets in Tahrir Square in their Converse who’ll claim it all started on their ‘Berries and iPads. This is a modern-day revolution, with keyboard and mouse instead of guns and Molotov cocktails or sticks and stones.

“We’re winning this on information,” claimed a young advertising executive who was involved. Shared information, where-to and how-to tips kicked off and mobilized this uprising. Starting, we are told, on Facebook. And then it picked up momentum across various channels of communications, like Twitter, BBM, voice-to-tweet, open IPs and physical memory-stick sharing.

An uprising is a mass thing, and the mass doesn’t reach critical until it involves a cross-strata of society. This time around, the socially adept, technologically enabled urban youth got involved, and often actually activated the masses because they felt empowered and enabled. “What’s different this time around here in Egypt is that this isn’t just a bunch of disgruntled, unemployed young men hurling rocks,” said a colleague, comparing the situation to some other parts of ongoing intifada in the region. They’re educated, aware, and unhappy. They’re hurling tweets.

One poster boy in Tahrir Square this time is Google’s marketing head for the Middle East and North Africa: Wael Ghonim, blogger and activist. When he disappeared off the streets, locked up by the authorities for socially mobilizing the uprising on Facebook and helping push #Jan25 to unprecedented trending, the social networks were rife with anger and acceptance. If you blog, they arrest you. You are known by your handle. And then, on his release on Monday, there was widespread celebration and a whole new momentum fueled by victory.

The other thing we’ve noticed this time is that the people have intervened and invented in amazing ways beyond text. People are turning not working into networking. We’ve seen dozens of photos and handheld videos shared on the internet, but they’re often passed on physically to start with. Digital cameras and camera phones are enabling the street-citizen journalist. And a lot of these were handed over to foreign journalists in various formats, on the street and in hotel lobbies. When Al Jazeera was allowed back on, their Creative Commons has helped the people of Egypt find their audio — and video — voice.

Posted on February 18, 2011

Live From Tahrir Square: What Egyptians Are Tweeting Today

2011-02-20T17:11:00.001-08:00

From Advertising Age/Global News:

Well, they got @Sandmonkey this morning. The Egyptian micro-celebrity and blogger Mahmoud who goes under the handle Sandmonkey was put in a cage, arrested. Not much of a surprise, and a bit too late. He’d already got the word out, tweet by tweet, video upload after another, and he had done enough social damage to #Mubarak. He moved the dictator towards #epicFail. As the internet opened up a little, protesters were tweeting live from the now legendary #Tahrir Square. And the world is following. Most related topics are trending on top 10 as I post, in the U.K., in Canada, and in the US. One way or another, one hashtag or another, #Jan25 and #Egypt is captivating tweet.

The world is watching in awe as social media is playing a small but significant part in tearing at decades of repressive regime. In London, #Jan25 is higher at No. 2 than the happier celebratory #Kung Hei Fat Choi for Chinese New Year. In India the topic holds four of the top 10 slots. I read on a tweet that more people are following the Egyptian revolution on social worldwide at any given time than on TV. The revolution is not on television! Social is helping today’s frustration, anger, and resentment amongst the literate youth be voiced with a loudness unprecedented. And, hush, but a little bird says that the power of social is kindle, waiting across many a Middle Eastern flashpoint. Scary.

In Egypt, friends are now being able to contact us. They’re telling us how the entire narrative, the tide was turning one way, then another, mostly in a well mannered way using the power of next gen media. Groups are organizing quickly. Information was being passed, bloodbank requests were being RT’d and doctors responding. And Washington was being beckoned to action. The world was being told. Minute by minute. My tweetstream on #Jan25 is flowing so fast, I simply am unable to catch any of it. The news channel Al Jazeera is running a live Twitter feed on their portal. Uploads are flooding YouTube, and #Jan25 is getting thousands of likes on Facebook. For once, an entire world is following a revolution 24/7. This is huge.

However, saying it’s a social media revolution would be belittling the hundreds wounded and scores who have given up their lives. This is not a revolution about armchair or laptop protesting. It’s not about ‘leaning back’ (watching it on tv) or ‘leaning forward’ (participating via laptop). It’s out on the street. It’s being written in blood. Young and old Egyptian blood. But as our friends from Cairo tell us, social media, and channels like Al Jazeera are playing a significant role amongst the urban youth who have mobiles, who have access and who know how to ‘like’ and ‘hashtag.’ And Mubarak’s people know that. Armed with knives and guns, they are raiding Liberation Square, moving in out amongst the pro-freedom protesters, spreading panic, inciting violence. Because they know that the people are armed with courage, and determination–and support and empathy that’s growing by the tweet, by the second.

Breaking: I just logged on to http://www.sandmonkey.org/. And got: Error establishing a database connection. That’s yet another RT of Mubarak#Fail.

Posted on February 18, 2011

Booted Off Web, Egyptians Find Twitter Work-Around on @Speak2Tweet

2011-02-20T17:10:00.001-08:00

From my blog published on Advertising Age/Global News:

DUBAI (AdAge.com) — It’s happening in Tahrir Square, it’s happening in Alexandria and it’s unfolding on Speak2Tweet. The revolution in Egypt is not on TV or radio, but tugging at Mubarak 140 characters at a time.

For the first time (since Iran’s Twitter-fueled uprising was “socially sidelined” because Michael Jackson died and hashtag Michael Jackson — #MJ — became much more popular than hashtag IranElection — #IranElection), social media is standing up and being counted in the Middle East. During the earlier Iran uprising, as protests were being mobilized and heralded on the microblog, the U.S. State Department asked Twitter to postpone a scheduled site maintenance that would have shut down the most powerful communication tool for protesters in Iran. Today we are witnessing another uprising, this time far more serious, and far larger in scale. Here in our region, social media is becoming a channel for freedom of expression, for change, and it is being recognized — even hailed — as a human right.

As the Mubarak government turned Egypt into Gypt (everything “e” was cut off), Twitter quickly joined hands with SayNow (a Google company, yes,) to work around the ban and created @speak2tweet. This amazing new “channel,” created for the people of Egypt, is a game changer. It allows for anyone with access to a telephone line to leave a voice message –- which is instantly converted to a tweet.

And what’s really sweet is that it all came from official sources. The top tweets about @speak2tweet were from Google and Twitter, not from some nerd in a back office in Cairo. And the people of Egypt aren’t going to forget that in a hurry. In the past, Egypt has been called Facebook Nation, for the times that general strikes have been organized and mobilized using the power of social media and the popularity of Facebook amongst the young, urban population in Egypt.

This time around, Google and Twitter are the leading facilitators. A joint statement coming from SayNow and Google MENA said “Like many people, we’ve been glued to the news unfolding in Egypt and thinking of what we could do to help people on the ground,” and added a strong note of support with “We hope that this will go some way to helping people in Egypt stay connected at this very difficult time. Our thoughts are with everyone there.” Wow. Well done social.

I managed to connect with Ahmed, one of those Egyptians who’ve grasped the power of the importance of free expression. He said, “It’s not religious, it’s not political. It’s social. Today, I don’t care if you’re Muslim or Christian, today I want to know if you’re social” (meaning if you are able to connect via a social media channel and spread the word).

As I post, my Twitter feed is continuously showing voice tweets coming out of Egypt. It’s very early morning there on Thursday, Feb. 3. The vigil is continuing, and some of the pro-Mubarak supporters (apparently organized and rustled up quickly by the government) have opened fire, injuring several in the pro-freedom crowd. It’s beginning to go south. Violence is flaring.

I’m keeping up with the news, tweet by tweet, live from the square. I’ll post a couple here. Then I’ll have to go work. Write up yet another presentation for a pitch selling the power of social media. For a fast moving consumer goods client. But, for now, from #Egypt:

#egypt #Jan25 Just saw a protester hit by a Molotov. Saw him catch on fire. Other protesters managed to put him out.

We just knew that one of the demonstrators just died from live bullet shot by the NDP thugs here in Tahrir Sq. #Egypt #Jan25

Continued gunfire from #Tahrir #jan25 #Egypt

Just witnessed a guy getting shot in the head. On Al Jazeera. In Egypt. #jan25

And a call out to the US of A. Thugs waited until west asleep to attack! CALL US state department to condemn use of US weapons to kill Egyptians 202-647-4000 #Jan25 #Egypt

Posted on February 18, 2011

@Sandmonkey arrested and blog down. Here's his last post

2011-02-03T05:23:00.000-08:00

Egypt, right now: by Sandmonkey
Sandmonkey, Egypt’s most famous English-language blogger, was arrested on 3 February 2011 while attempting to deliver medical supplies to Tahrir Square. About one hour later, his blog was suspended. The obvious conclusion is that his arrested was not at all random – that Hosni Mubarak’s security forces were following him online and planned his arrest (the Sandmonkey tweeted that he was on his way to deliver medical supplies to Tahrir shortly before he was arrested). He wrote the following this morning, and posted it on his blog. I have re-posted it here, with out correcting any typos. This is strictly copy-and-paste.

I don’t know how to start writing this. I have been battling fatigue for not sleeping properly for the past 10 days, moving from one’s friend house to another friend’s house, almost never spending a night in my home, facing a very well funded and well organized ruthless regime that views me as nothing but an annoying bug that its time to squash will come. The situation here is bleak to say the least.

It didn’t start out that way. On Tuesday Jan 25 it all started peacefully, and against all odds, we succeeded to gather hundreds of thousands and get them into Tahrir Square, despite being attacked by Anti-Riot Police who are using sticks, tear gas and rubber bullets against us. We managed to break all of their barricades and situated ourselves in Tahrir. The government responded by shutting down all cell communication in Tahrir square, a move which purpose was understood later when after midnight they went in with all of their might and attacked the protesters and evacuated the Square. The next day we were back at it again, and the day after. Then came Friday and we braved their communication blackout, their thugs, their tear gas and their bullets and we retook the square.

We have been fighting to keep it ever since.

That night the government announced a military curfew, which kept getting shorter by the day, until it became from 8 am to 3 pm. People couldn’t go to work, gas was running out quickly and so were essential goods and money, since the banks were not allowed to operate and people were not able to collect their salary. The internet continued to be blocked, which affected all businesses in Egypt and will cause an economic meltdown the moment they allow the banks to operate again. We were being collectively punished for daring to say that we deserve democracy and rights, and to keep it up, they withdrew the police, and then sent them out dressed as civilians to terrorize our neighborhoods. I was shot at twice that day, one of which with a semi-automatic by a dude in a car that we the people took joy in pummeling. The government announced that all prisons were breached, and that the prisoners somehow managed to get weapons and do nothing but randomly attack people. One day we had organized thugs in uniforms firing at us and the next day they disappeared and were replaced by organized thugs without uniforms firing at us. Somehow the people never made the connection.

Despite it all, we braved it. We believed we are doing what’s right and were encouraged by all those around us who couldn’t believe what was happening to their country. What he did galvanized the people, and on Tuesday, despite shutting down all major roads leading into Cairo, we managed to get over 2 million protesters in Cairo alone and 3 million all over Egypt to come out and demand Mubarak’s departure. Those are people who stood up to the regime’s ruthlessness and anger and declared that they were free, and were refusing to live in the Mubarak dictatorship for one more day. That night, he showed up on TV, and gave a very emotional speech about how he intends to step down at the end of his term and how he wants to die in Egypt, the country he loved and served. To me, and to everyone else at the protests this wasn’t nearly enough, for we wanted him gone now. Others started asking that we give him a chance, and that change takes time and other such poppycock. Hell, some people and family members cried when they saw his speech. People felt sorry for him for failing to be our dictator for the rest of his life and inheriting us to his Son. It was an amalgam of Stockholm syndrome coupled with slave mentality in a malevolent combination that we never saw before. And the Regime capitalized on it today.

Today, they brought back the internet, and started having people calling on TV and writing on facebook on how they support Mubarak and his call for stability and peacefull change in 8 months. They hung on to the words of the newly appointed government would never harm the protesters, whom they believe to be good patriotic youth who have a few bad apples amongst them. We started getting calls asking people to stop protesting because “we got what we wanted” and “we need the country to start working again”. People were complaining that they miss their lives. That they miss going out at night, and ordering Home Delivery. That they need us to stop so they can resume whatever existence they had before all of this. All was forgiven, the past week never happened and it’s time for Unity under Mubarak’s rule right now.

To all of those people I say: NEVER! I am sorry that your lives and businesses are disrupted, but this wasn’t caused by the Protesters. The Protesters aren’t the ones who shut down the internet that has paralyzed your businesses and banks: The government did. The Protesters weren’t the ones who initiated the military curfew that limited your movement and allowed goods to disappear off market shelves and gas to disappear: The government did. The Protesters weren’t the ones who ordered the police to withdraw and claimed the prisons were breached and unleashed thugs that terrorized your neighborhoods: The government did. The same government that you wish to give a second chance to, as if 30 years of dictatorship and utter failure in every sector of government wasn’t enough for you. The Slaves were ready to forgive their master, and blame his cruelty on those who dared to defy him in order to ensure a better Egypt for all of its citizens and their children.

After all, he gave us his word, and it’s not like he ever broke his promises for reform before or anything.

Then Mubarak made his move and showed them what useful idiots they all were.

You watched on TV as “Pro-Mubarak Protesters” – thugs who were paid money by NDP members by admission of High NDP officials- started attacking the peaceful unarmed protesters in Tahrir square. They attacked them with sticks, threw stones at them, brought in men riding horses and camels- in what must be the most surreal scene ever shown on TV- and carrying whips to beat up the protesters. And then the Bullets started getting fired and Molotov cocktails started getting thrown at the Anti-Mubarak Protesters as the Army standing idly by, allowing it all to happen and not doing anything about it. Dozens were killed, hundreds injured, and there was no help sent by ambulances. The Police never showed up to stop those attacking because the ones who were captured by the Anti-mubarak people had police ID’s on them. They were the police and they were there to shoot and kill people and even tried to set the Egyptian Museum on Fire. The Aim was clear: Use the clashes as pretext to ban such demonstrations under pretexts of concern for public safety and order, and to prevent disunity amongst the people of Egypt. But their plans ultimately failed, by those resilient brave souls who wouldn’t give up the ground they freed of Egypt, no matter how many live bullets or firebombs were hurled at them. They know, like we all do, that this regime no longer cares to put on a moderate mask. That they have shown their true nature. That Mubarak will never step down, and that he would rather burn Egypt to the ground than even contemplate that possibility.

In the meantime, State-owned and affiliated TV channels were showing coverage of Peaceful Mubarak Protests all over Egypt and showing recorded footage of Tahrir Square protest from the night before and claiming it’s the situation there at the moment. Hundreds of calls by public figures and actors started calling the channels saying that they are with Mubarak, and that he is our Father and we should support him on the road to democracy. A veiled girl with a blurred face went on Mehwer TV claiming to have received funding by Americans to go to the US and took courses on how to bring down the Egyptian government through protests which were taught by Jews. She claimed that AlJazeera is lying, and that the only people in Tahrir square now were Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. State TV started issuing statements on how the people arrested Israelis all over Cairo engaged in creating mayhem and causing chaos. For those of you who are counting this is an American-Israeli-Qatari-Muslim Brotherhood-Iranian-Hamas conspiracy. Imagine that. And MANY PEOPLE BOUGHT IT. I recall telling a friend of mine that the only good thing about what happened today was that it made clear to us who were the idiots amongst our friends. Now we know.

Now, just in case this isn’t clear: This protest is not one made or sustained by the Muslim Brotherhood, it’s one that had people from all social classes and religious background in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood only showed up on Tuesday, and even then they were not the majority of people there by a long shot. We tolerated them there since we won’t say no to fellow Egyptians who wanted to stand with us, but neither the Muslims Brotherhood not any of the Opposition leaders have the ability to turn out one tenth of the numbers of Protesters that were in Tahrir on Tuesday. This is a revolution without leaders. Three Million individuals choosing hope instead of fear and braving death on hourly basis to keep their dream of freedom alive. Imagine that.

The End is near. I have no illusions about this regime or its leader, and how he will pluck us and hunt us down one by one till we are over and done with and 8 months from now will pay people to stage fake protests urging him not to leave power, and he will stay “because he has to acquiesce to the voice of the people”. This is a losing battle and they have all the weapons, but we will continue fighting until we can’t. I am heading to Tahrir right now with supplies for the hundreds injured, knowing that today the attacks will intensify, because they can’t allow us to stay there come Friday, which is supposed to be the game changer. We are bringing everybody out, and we will refuse to be anything else than peaceful. If you are in Egypt, I am calling on all of you to head down to Tahrir today and Friday. It is imperative to show them that the battle for the soul of Egypt isn’t over and done with. I am calling you to bring your friends, to bring medical supplies, to go and see what

Mubarak’s gurantees look like in real life. Egypt needs you. Be Heroes.

Gulf News: So not with the times again

2011-01-27T19:04:00.001-08:00

When I picked up Gulf News here in Dubai this morning at my doorstep, I had been up already for a couple of hours and was following news online. There was so much buzz on twitter and facebook about the seriousness of what was unfolding, and was about to unfold in Egypt. But the main story in the Gulf News was apparently how 'India was playing a dangerous game' according to Pakistan. Huh?

The editor had obviously not found anything more sensational, didn't quite know what was up in Egypt, or for that matter in Yemen, or was so concerned about his 'sub-continental' target audience that India and Pakistan were clearly better headline material. So not with the times, Gulf News! And even in the online edition this morning, the lead story is still this stupid bit on India and Pakistan. I mean, come on, Mr Editor, who cares?

The story is in Cairo. And Yemen. Hello? Well, Gulf News: Breaking News is: There's a lot going on in Egypt. And protesters and the Opposition there have called for organized protests for Friday (today). And, like what happened in Iran a few months ago, a lot of the organization is happening, and gaining momentum across social media, like facebook and twitter. Or was.

Because as of yesterday, the Government has cut off the internet for the most part. Google, twiiter, facebook have all been taken off. There are dozens of uploads on YouTube and you can see the frustrations of the people, the fermenting of dissent, and the expression of previously muted anger now rife with violence.

The social buzz this morning is a huge cauldron of solidarity, anger, sympathy from across the world. The people of Egypt sadly can't see or hear any of it (apparently even sms messages have been cut off), but I suspect the collective voices of the world's believers in human rights and justice will prevail.

Unperson of the Year 2010

2010-12-28T21:25:00.000-08:00

In the George Orwell book Nineteen Eighty-Four, an Unperson is someone who has been vaporized. Gone missing, moved, erased. Made invisible, banished. So good.

Since having read the interesting Time magazine Person of the Year issue – featuring Mark Zuckerberg – I've been toying with appointing my own. Our our own. A collective vote from round here for a hero. But then we thought (all my personalities, I'm split you know) that it would be much, much more fun to do a UnPerson. Someone who we do not wish existed. Someone who we could erase, vaporize. So, here goes... The 2010 UnPerson of the Year.

The 2010 UnPerson recognition goes to someone very similar to Zuckerberg in some ways. Some one who's very visible in media. Someone who could be a facebook friend to millions. And, of course. of course, like Zuckerberg, have a few enemies. Like me. And a few of my friends. The Unperson with Egg on Face goes to...

The media planner supreme – yes, senior level, who is unable to define creativity or grasp the fundamentals of planning in the digital age. The planner who, based on years of miscalculated experience, believes that creativity in media planning is about what you do on the contact point, solely. Execution. Not where. What.

The UnPerson for 2010 is the planner who uses and abuses the term 'engagement' – throwing tactical not strategic at the client and trying to win the pitch, the annual plan, the business based entirely on fancy circus trickery. Lo and behold, the banner that sings and dances on one leg on Yahoo. Watch her flip through the magazine and you can literally smell the aroma of your coffee – for she has discovered that one printer in Toronto who uses aromatic ink! Watch him use the newspaper belly band to belly dance at the pitch. Watch out then for what I call a crutch – a fatal dependence on execution. Sans any brainwork outside the proverbial plan excel sheet. Watch him hide same old same old behind a curtain of a touch screen mupi that has an augmented reality app built into it. Whoa!

Whatever happened to good old days? When planning was about reach, about target audience, and the power of frequency. Of copy wear outs and roadblock mapping? Why is there so much hue and cry about a facebook app with a game when the fundamentals of digital power – micromedia planning and thin slice targeting – are not in focus? How come these planners ignore Search and go for Destroy (the in-banner game) instead?

Why are media agencies becoming creative agencies with artwork and flash guys, with 110 slide presentations chock full of song and dance and no spine? Egg on face then to the planner who has forgotten fundamentals. Like Christmas built around Santa, the tree, Boxing Day sales and no Christ.

UnPerson then, to the dependent crutch clutching media personality. Walk. Try. Venture forth. Creativity exists in the world of the media agency – but it's creativity in the fundamentals, in the strategy, in the way you reach, dialog with, and engage people. And, no, you do not need Flash to do that.

# The Symbol of the Year

2010-12-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

The first decade of our new millennium is coming to a close, and one key on our boards has seen a massive resurgence across the world. It's the humble #. What we call a hashtag in twitterspeak. Ever since the @ sign became the most used key on every keyboard, no other computer keyboard key has ever had such a front stage showing.

According to an article in The Guardian highlighting the symbol, the official typographical name for the # is an octothorpe. While globally, it's called a 'hash', in the US, things are different. The yanks used to call it a 'pound sign'! But now, with twitter, every one seems to know what it is (a 'hash' of course), and how it's used.

The # is the absolute sign on twitter – a marker that allows tweets to highlight a subject, to group tweets together, to track them down or comment, re-tweet and so on.

So, as the year and the decade comes to a close, here's to the humble #hashtag and new lexicon in our speak. Here's to #twitter!
Happy 2011 and have a merry #Christmas.

Even the Navy's changing

2010-12-05T22:15:00.000-08:00

One of my all time favorite quotes is from Steve Jobs, Apple CEO and visionary. “Why join the navy when you can be a pirate?” It’s been a mantra around here, one I have used over the years to challenge our staff, inspire them about the possibilities of ‘digital’, and to have that one last awesome slide in winning pitches.

Pirates are quick, nimble bounty hunters. They go get loot, and lots of it. They’re romantic, they get movies made about them – and they’re pretty much an emblem for the ‘digital’ savvy, nerd, geek, entreprenuerally minded, i-Phone clutching new age guys. The new agencies. The guys who change the world. Guys who have 500 million friends. And a few enemies. You get the drift.

The navy is about big ships. Navies are about huge, widescreen, big scale, big corporate offices in ivory towers. They’re about large turning circles, routine, doing-it-by-the-book, mega budgets, massive media buys, sixteen departments, and an armada of suits. Navies are about big agencies. Big names, logos you’d recognize, people who are AdAge cover stories.

But not any more. The navy as we know it – the big advertising agency is about to change. Or has already, and you’ve blinked. In our industry (now is that advertising or engagement?) digital is no longer just a specialization. Digital is becoming core. No surprise there, because the very definition of mainstream media is changing. If people are spending more time and engaging in digitally driven activities, being social, searching, googling, texting, well, that’s going to redefine what’s mainstream. Does your target spend more time on facebook than watching tv? If so, is your agency properly equipped to communicate with and engage with that target? Or are they still turning around in big circles, not in high octane powered digital skiffs?

While there will always be specialists, always be catalysts who inspire and lead the others in the digital race, everybody today needs to grasp what digital is all about. The writer, the art director, account head, media planner – every one. And, vice versa. Those geeks, those digital savvy folk also need to understand how ‘traditional’ advertising works. Web content writers should understand copy writing for an ad. Digital planners need to understand GRP. And flash programmers need to understand consumer insight before making wow apps. Which means they need to work in one flow. One integrated solutions offering. One navy.

The big agencies that aren’t doing this are caught between the devil and deep blue sea. They’re themselves afraid of change, and they are standing back and watching the new ones, the nifty, nimble, new age engagement specialists steal valuable yardage. Yet, their inaction is what is the bigger fear.

Not that some of the agencies are not throwing digital into the mix. Digital is usually always on the agenda. In many cases it’s the last 20 minutes and 15 winning slides in a pitch. It’s there, but it’s a dummy. Unless digital is part of an integrated campaign, a real outcome, unless it’s driven through in the execution stage, what’s the point?

And the other big debate is what is digital? What are we really supposed to embrace? An iPhone app? A ‘like’ driver on facebook? A microsite? A blog? A tweet? Some of us seem confused. Let’s face it. In stark reality, it’s about using leading edge technologies and platforms to engage and interact with the consumer. And, in most cases, the more invisible the technology, and the more prominent the message and dialog, the better. Digital not as crutch or dependency, but as power, as catalyst.

Advertising is being redefined as we speak. The whole communications business model is shifting rapidly from mass media to micromedia for the masses. It’s moving from communications to engagement. From monologue and shouting to listening and dialogue. With user behavior tracking, deep insights available to us on individual likes and dislikes, it’s becoming more about individuality than about group behavior. More about you and me than about us as a demographic in general.

This means we need to understand the shift in how consumers are absorbing (or not) media. Trends like ‘snacking’ and ‘time-shifting’ are going to have a huge effect on media planning. The website as brochure and the banner as display are being seen as so 90s because today, it’s about how the consumer is controlling where, when and how they interact with a brand message – and how they’re reshaping that message, viralizing it, socializing it, or ignoring it.

We’re still in the ideas business, and we cannot forget that our business has always been about innovation. Decades ago, the VW Beetle Lemon ad was innovative. So is Jimmy Choo’s location based campaign today. The world’s second oldest profession isn’t going to be completely taken over by a Silicon Valley vc chasing a dotcom gold rush. The navy is still going to be around. But it’ll need to adapt.

Before I get blackburied by colleagues asking me to put my money where my mouse is, I’ll put my neck on the line. Yes, our agencies, are up for the challenge. We’re hiring pirates. We’re crowdsourcing. We’re turning vision into (augmented) reality. We’re recontextualizing at MCN. Yes. Even the navy’s changing.

Maps and teeth

2010-11-14T03:02:00.000-08:00

We ate too much. We drank too much. We laughed too much. And, naturally, we will do this again. This was my tweet on a party I attended at Ajay Juneja's house last weekend. To celebrate Diwali (the Indian festival of lights) and in general, shining happy people. Ajay is a friend, but he's also a Specialist Prosthodontist, and a very good one. I met him over a very casual root canal, and now we're friends doing Diwali. So, you know he's good. Normally, the guy who does a root canal on you isn't quite on a 'make friends with' list. But Juneja was fab. And, no I'm not plugging him either (he does practise at the Dental Studio in Jumeirah, and since I am not plugging him, you'll just have to google it).

We arrived late that evening because Ajay decided he'd send us a map. Not one he printed off google maps, but one he had drawn, scribbled, corrected, sent a wrong one first, then a right one, and by then we didn't quite know right from wrong and left from right. He's very very good at making your teeth look very very Hollywood, but at maps? Challenged.

But that's what makes it all fun. He's good at teeth. And he's particularly good at what one of my favorite writers Jeremy Clarkson calls 'American teeth'. Clarkson once famously wrote "There are four different types of teeth. There are canines which are used for tearing of lumps of meat. There are incisors which are used for cutting it. There are premolars for crushing it. And there are American teeth which are used for appearing in Hello! Magazine" and while I I'm 100% that Dr Juneja is good at all four, I'm told he's an award winning dentist at American or Hello teeth. But not maps. So, I offered to do him one.

However, I know he already has one at home. All his wife's friends showed up on time, because she simply used a google map. But men don't do maps, don't do directions – give or take – and the Ajay set were all lost and late. But stylishly, and Hello-ishly to say the least. Cheers Ajay.

The Gemas Effies 2010

2010-11-07T21:40:00.001-08:00

This year’s entries were fairly balanced. Some of the categories had very strong, result driven entries which harnessed solid strategy unfolded via creative executions. On the other hand some categories were hugely disappointing – and we were reluctant to honor the entries in those.

The successful and awarded entries were clearly the ones which had relevant insights, specially local insights – something special that the brand and the agencies picked up and worked with – and reaped the results in the market place. Today’s informed consumer recognizes a good product and resonates to a good campaign built around solid consumer insight. The winning entries reflected this.

Overall, this year, we saw a huge paradigm shift in consumer engagement. The most successful entries were (not surprisingly) ones that used the power of 360° engagement – and most often digital engagement played a key role in those campaigns. With today’s consumer ever increasingly being engaged, entertained and empowered by brands in the digital and social domains, it wasn’t at all surprising to see some of the winning entries being pivoted around where today’s consumer is playing – in the digital and social fields. (Clever) Local insight combined with 360° engagement – with an emphasis and a nod to digital – that’s what 2010 has been about.

Changes at MCN

2010-10-11T02:14:00.000-07:00

Iain Akerman, editor of Campaign Middle East, in his op-ed 'perspective' piece in the 10.10.10 issue wrote about the changes at MCN – the Middle East Communications Network – where I spend my days. Tongue firmly in cheek he writes about how he nearly had his head kicked in by someone because he had written something that 'involved' FP7. Fortune Promoseven (or FP7, as it's known in the industry) is the flagship at MCN – the IPG operating company that manages other brands like Lowe, UM, Initiative, Magna, Weber Shandwick, MRM, Innovations etc. Long list of agency brand. Huge possibilities for drawing fire. But, Iain writes, changes are being made, he seems to see some light.

There's been some restructuring, some recognizing that perhaps a new generation were ready to take on the challenge, and they seem to have been empowered. How it all works out remains to be seen, but at least, someone's been working on ushering in change. MCN President & CEO Fadi Salameh was very open about it. After much introspection and in depth reviewing, the MCN leadership recognized the need for change. And Fadi hit the button. Right time too.

Every one was saying Fadi's on his way out, but he's still very much around, still piloting the agencies, driving forward. Fresh at the wheel, with him is Luca Lindner, president of McCann Worldgroup, Latin America, Africa and Middle East. And, phew, Luca is a breath of fresh Mediterranean air. With a bit of Brazil thrown in for good measure.

I was in there, in front of all the brand new heavies, discussing, presenting the digital way ahead for MCN. And if I may, digital is going to be the way ahead at MCN. As per the gospel of Luca. He, of course, has been there done that, having pushed digital to the front burner across Lat Am. And now, he's challenging us here in the Middle East to get with it. For the very first time, since we were acquired by IPG, we've seen someone who's going to be around these hallways knee deep in what we do. No helicopter piloting for Luca. He's hands on. He gets it. He gets digital. He understands social media, knows the future of interruptive advertising (as opposed to participatory dialog) is short sighted, and believes that we've got around five years to embrace the zeros and ones. Or fail.

Part of this big change is the change at the top at Promoseven. Tarek Miknas, is 2G Miknas. Father Akram Miknas founded Promoseven 42 years ago. Today, McCann New York long stint under his belt, an amazing couple of years as Chief Growth Offiver at Lowe also part of CV, Tarek steps up to the plate, ready. Ready when the crowd wants a homer. Ready, when every possible curve ball will be hurled at him.

I've known Tarek ever since he came back from New York, complete with dreads and a twang. He's passionate but balanced. Right brained but left brained too. He's a techie, and a people guy. And best of all, he's got intuition. Not just finger on pulse kind of intuition, but the uncanny knack of calling the cards right that slight second ahead of time. He'll do good.

MCN is a giant. FP7 is a big ship. The turning circle is large, and it won't happen by Christmas. No surprises from Santa there. But I've got this feeling, this is genuine. Because the effort's there, and the desire to change is from the heart. About time we embraced it. Or #fail.

Paying for Earned Media. How to get the Buzz going

2010-09-20T22:34:00.000-07:00

I've been reading a lot recently about the buzz around 'earned media'. A lot of digital agency heads now write about developing beautiful social campaigns that replace 'paid media' with their organic social media efforts – which in essence uses the power of earned media. What I don't read as frequently however is their position on how they get the buzz going on these 'earned' campaigns. Do these auto-viralize? Are they so inherently powerful that there is zero effort outside the social campaign? Is it as simple as 'if you build it, they will come'?

While we all seem to recognize the power of social media, we haven't quite comfortably delved into the area about how to get those campaigns going. When a certain campaign runs around a powerful social platform – and this power can come from any part of it that gives it viral turbo charging – I can understand how it takes off. But when we agency folks have the responsibility of delivering campaigns that have to work with brands, and sell their products, we cannot simply fall back on auto-viral. Unless the campaigns have some incredibly funny elements that people feel compelled and proud to share (or they see a pot of rewards), it's not easy. If it has a social and moral push to it, even the funny bits are not needed. But brand campaigns that rely purely on earned media? Who knows then that you've built it? How will they come?

I feel it has to be a combo deal. Yes, we can rely on the power of social or earned pushes, but in most cases (yes, there are exceptions), a paid push is needed. If we have an idea that has viral potential, and we know in the gut that it will take off, and even early metrics show that it is on upwardly mobile mode, it's probably time to kick in with a bit of a paid spend. Take P&G's mega successful Old Spice social campaign built around the beefy Old Spice Man. P&G used a hefty $11 million+ to push the campaign. That's what helped create the buzz around the Man. Sure they used data in real time to make ads more sharable and interesting, but they put real dollars behind it. The result? Neilsen says they had a double digit increase in sales.

In the end, I come back to my favorite buzz word – integration. Consumers react better to campaigns that surround them across media. What they see on tv, hear on radio, see in magazines and newspapers – but which have the central pivot perhaps in the online domain – becomes an immersive experience. And they'll flow with it. As digital agencies, it is our responsibility to be true to the brands we service and go to them with real solutions that have genuine ROI. And the I in ROI is important. And the I in the ROI has often to be in paid media.

So, yes, we ought to work with our brands and develop creative social campaigns that have social viral power, but we have to recognize the importance of well thought out media planning and touch point strategies to enhance and multiply the power of a viral campaign. The more people who see it, the more the chances of them sharing it. It's simple really. This way, those of us in this business of advertising, no longer have to be held responsible for coming up pure earned ideas, because to earn something you have to work at it. And sometimes, working at it means planting the seed. And someone's got to pay for those seeds. There are no free lunches, and the last time I looked at the gardening section of my local hypermarket, there aren't free seeds either.

Is social media marketing overrated?

2010-08-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

Today, I found a twitter link to a rather interesting post by Nagi Salloum on his blog titled "Is social media marketing overrated?" http://nagi.loomni.com/2010/08/26/is-social-media-marketing-overrated/. He makes some very solid points, and I couldn't disagree with his position or his opening gambit. He's left the forum open for comments, so I did. But so check out his blog as well. Here's my response...

This is an on-going debate, and I think the jury will stay out for a while. Good points made regarding twitter in the UAE. However, there are quite a few rather active tweeps who are very, very open to businesses/corporates reaching them. In fact, they almost feel compelled to help the cause. But, agree that we are not reaching a huge %age of the population. There are a few businesses who are doing ok, wildpeeta, thedubaimall, rakbank etc among them.

Facebook? Well, I've seen/heard different numbers and different claims. Globally, increasingly, corporates are engaging via facebook – because they feel that while the facebook audience is already in a fairly 'communicative' and 'receptive' mode, it wouldn't be such a bad idea trying to have a conversation with them.

Blogging? Not much there unless you're talking to niche and special interest groups. But overall, to dismiss social media as a possible and future-feasible marketing tool would be premature. I recall some pundits who had predicted that the internet would never take off in this country (too much of a mall culture, and people are not really online savvy. Wrong.). So, it is a wait and see game.

And who's the SM expert? You're right about the whole genre being so young, so unchartered. Yet, those who are shining, those who seem to possess some grasp of what's hot, what's not, are the early adopters. Those who've jumped in shallow end and kept swimming. Social media after all is about communicating and engaging in dialog. Those that are pushing marketing slogans down the consumers throats aren't experts. They're just exploiting the genre(or trying to). But those who really get it, are the ones who don't have huge expectations, who know the advantage of being first-to-market, and clearly, those who've realized that social media is about listening first, speaking after.

Social hibernation or rejuvenation.

2010-08-24T02:40:00.000-07:00

Around four weeks ago (though it does seem like much, much longer) I did a ziplip, or a self imposed embargo on all social fronts, or at least on all fronts except on twitter. Truth be told, I went off it. Not sick of it, or tired of social, but just kind of decided to creep back behind a rock. I went off on holiday, and except for the odd tweet and a couple of foursquare updates, I laid low. And, frankly, it was a much needed hiatus. A sabbatical of sorts, where my only social activity was hanging out at clubs in Calcutta, India. Not night clubs. But clubs. The way old clubs used to be. Where you get facetime, not facebook. Where the only tweet you hear is of real birds on the moist green rain soaked 18th hole. Or the only uploads that happen are when elbows are raised and pints are downed. That kind of social. And I loved it.

Calcutta is very much there as far as tech's concerned. It's by no means behind any city here in the Middle East. There's plenty of bandwidth, more than a dozen service providers, and connections are cheap as chips. But, yes, while the online set do facebook, and twitter and foursquare and youtube, they also are truly social. They meet at the club. They do tennis. They golf. They laze around and have a tall scotch and water or a rum. They enjoy life. Outside the virtual. In the real. And, I fell into that pattern.

I met old friends, family, acquaintances, and made new ones. Even though I was nursing a pretty bad back problem, I found the trip down to the clubs so relaxing, so real. Real people, with handshakes and hugs, not updates and uploads. The club was the Wall, and everybody was on it.

Club culture is a social thing that we here in Dubai just don't have. And many a die-hard has told me that in India, Calcutta is surely the last bastion of the 'old Club way'. All are meant for members only, and most of them have been around for decades if not centuries. My club, where I grew up, the Calcutta Cricket & Football Club is more than 220 years old. It is the oldest cricket club outside the British Isles. But there's much more than cricket there, although the gorgeous and grand cricket ground is the centre piece of it all. Sourav Ganguly, ex Indian captain is member. As is multiple Grand Slam doubles title winner Leander Paes. That's where Leander learnt to serve and volley. And more. Other clubs I dropped into for a drink or a meal were the absolutely grand Bengal Club (very posh, very puccah and proper koi hai style), and the famous Tollygunge Club, where the greens stretch for miles and the lazy afternoon disappears amidst darjeeling tea, early shots of gin and tonic into a dusk that's just the beginning of hard partying.

I digress. So, the question I ponder of course, is whether I did go into 'social' hibernation, or was it really a rebirth of my social being, where I had human contact, where I met real people and not avatars. I love staying in touch with my friends across the world on facebook, I like tweeting, I love connecting via youtube. But give me a rugby game to watch, give me a table full of friends, a round of drinks, and I'll take that anytime. That's social. And I'm missing it.

Adidas scores one over Nike

2010-07-14T23:23:00.001-07:00

Adidas are launching a viral (created by 180 Amsterdam) about a South African boy who keeps an accurate and obsessive count of goals scored by players wearing the F50 shoe. He paints the tally on to a wall poster for the shoe. Simple creative, but a nice play on the insight. Fact of the matter is Adidas wearers scored 63 goals (including 2 sad own goals), and thus were one ahead of Nike’s 62. Puma scored 9.

Nike however seemed to have scored on many other fronts. Eight of the winning Spain team were kitted in Nike boots. Iniesta, who won the World Cup with his last ditch gasp of a goal was in Nike. He wore the CTR360.

But what this is about is clever viraling. Adidas launched the Adizero F50 with a huge Facebook push, featuring greats like Messi, Kaka, Ballack, Simao and more – all touting how football is faster with the F50. To top the scoring chart is no doubt an interesting little ‘property’ to grab and then viralise, build on. That’s what social marketing is about today – finding something that may be of interest to the consumer and the fans and being able to create something around it. That’s a good goal, there, Adidas.

Corporate Social Media: Do you have a policy?

2010-07-12T00:13:00.000-07:00

More and more brands are getting into Social Media these days here in the Middle East, and save for a few well organized ones, I've mostly seen fairly disjointed, unstructured, unplanned efforts. There seems to be a lack of social media policy. Which I just don't understand. Companies have a marketing policy, a marketing budget, a plan, so why don't they have a similar approach when it comes to drafting a simple, easy to follow, across-the-board social policy?

Brands are slowly getting to understand social. They're genetically used to shouting, not listening, not participating, not paying attention – but rather preaching the corporate gospel from a soap box. And their agencies have helped them along, providing louder voices to shout at customers, at consumers, to make themselves heard.

First of all, no one really knows today, who owns the social space. So, there seems to be a free for all atmosphere. Whether having a simple guideline on what's ok, what's not for employee social behavior (when it comes to corporate tagged social), or a fully documented policy paper coming out of marketing / corporate communications, it is increasingly a requirement that there are certain standards that are followed. There ought to be a corporate language and tone of voice, (and I don't mean language in the literal sense). There ought to be a common approach to the consumer, to the competition, to customer service, to beating the drum, or whatever is being done in the social sphere. Companies, brands, product divisions, agencies – all need to sing off a common song sheet, and this policy is crucial to maintaining an 'identity'. And, it's particularly relevant when an outsourced consultant or freelancer handles a company's social voice. That voice needs to be one voice.

Social voice is usually an extension of company culture, and there needs to be a strategy behind voicing and sharing that culture whether proactively or in relation to social voice out there. This is about responsibility and self control. It's about being able to judge crucially before a facebook update, a like, a tweet and a foursquare update (I'm at the F1 Super Deluxe Paddock Lounge' tweet or foursquare update when the company has just announced a economy drive is plain stupid).

After all, one needs to understand that several people from one company are voicing on social, each one thinks differently, each one has a different sentiment, but those are personal. If one has opened up their personal space and tagged it with a corporate identity, than that sentiment needs to be in line with corporate sentiment, corporate vision and mission.

Having a clear cut policy is not difficult. One needs to have a clear cut understanding of objectives that the 'company' has. These may be different from personal objectives, and in that case, one needs to define the fine line and cross over to corporate territory and safeguard it. One needs to understand different departmental goals. Different product managers have different goals. The CEO may say something that is totally big picture, while the product buyer, the art director, the front desk person may say something totally out of sync. This is where a policy helps.

Most corporate driven social voice out there in this region seems driven by brand, and the peripheral, the conversations around the product, the benefit, the lifestyle driven ones are ignored. This is a no-no. Policy should cover peripheral social voice. Policy should cover short term vs long term. So, if I work at a automotive dealership, my tweets on speed cameras, for example, ideally come under policy, because, while they're not about the new GT model on the showroom floor, they're somehow inter related. That's social. And that's why we need to have someone draft broad guidelines, without stepping on our freedom of social speech.

50+ surfers ride the new wave

2010-06-30T23:26:00.000-07:00

In many a pitch, many a presentation, I've stood up and said "Online is bound to grow in our region (as in the Middle East) because more than 50% of our population is under 25. The youth naturally take up new media, new technology and new trends". Well folks, I was half wrong. Because, the latest numbers coming out, at least in the UK, show that online growth is being fuelled by the 50+.

Online audiences in the UK have grown by 5% over the past year, fuelled by increasing take-up by the over 50s, according to new research. The report shows: Almost two million more Britons are online than last year. Figures have swelled from 36.9 million in May 2009 to 38.8 million in May 2010, research by UKOM reveals. Those aged 50+ now account for 31% of total people online.

Men over 50 were responsible for most of this growth, accounting for 722,000 and 38% of new internet users followed by women who accounted for 284,000 and 15% of new users.

Health, video and community are the leading interest areas, and we find that quite natural. Alex Burmaster, analyst at UKOM/Nielsen, said: "The fact that one in four Britons who use the Internet today are 50- to 64-years-old proves it is no longer the sole preserve of the young and technical literati.

This really is a game changer as far as our online strategy goes in several genres. Take travel for instance. Here's a generation that probably has disposable time and money to go around the world and see the 200 places on their bucket list. Here's a generation that's ripe for online pharmacies. For insurance. Cards. Banking. Buying new cars. Upgrading. And, of course, for technology, hardware and software. Do Co Mo in Japan have figured this out quickly (Japan has the world's oldest population, I'm told). So, Do Co Mo are enabling (for free), photo sharing technology for the elderly via their photoframes. But that's another story, another post.

Split at IPG. No, not what you think.

2010-06-30T23:16:00.000-07:00

Interpublic Group has launched a new creative technology unit called Split.

The venture is tasked with developing global partnerships with agencies and marketers and creating proprietary products.

While Split is an independent IPG revenue center, it is aligned with McCann Worldgroup.

Worldgroup CIO Greg Smith founded and heads Split, and has been working with McCann Erickson chief creative officer Joyce King Thomas in testing the concept at the agency's New York headquarters.

With about 30 employees, Split has brought in over $1 million in revenue from various projects and is currently working on new apps that will launch by month's end, as well as a social media platform that debuts this quarter, the company said.

A recent Split initiative was the mid-November launch, via Twitter, of the first Nikon Online Film Festival, a user-generated content contest inviting aspiring filmmakers to upload 140-second videos with the chance to win prizes of $25,000 and $100,000. Nikon spokesperson Ashton Kutcher, with 3.9 million Twitter followers, kicked off the contest by posting a link to his submission, a short film documenting a day spent in Africa. Split and McCann N.Y. created the concept and all campaign elements: social-media launch, a Web site, online outreach, TV and print.

"Creative technology, the pairing of content and code, clearly is an area with huge potential, including the ability to own 'reach,'" Smith said in a statement. "Split is a new model. It is a business within a business -- handling digital creative and production, and importantly also developing and leveraging our own software products that can be licensed to marketers or consumers."

Added King Thomas: "Split not only has given us sophisticated technological support, but has been a huge creative asset to us -- contributing to ideation, participating in new-business opportunities [and] producing some of our most innovative digital work over the past year."

Split will continue to work with McCann as well as other Worldgroup companies and IPG entities. In addition to its New York base, Split hubs are being formed in other markets.

courtesy AdWeek

Service, Social Media and Banking

2010-06-21T02:46:00.000-07:00

To date, I've never used my blog for a rant. But since I speak and have a position on social media, because I preach the gospel of the power of the word of mouse, and I have a genuine beef, here goes...

A couple of banks here in the UAE have really worked hard on the social front. They've appointed social media agencies, they're responsive, they seem to have a good finger on the pulse of their customers and their target market. But what happens when their core social face – their real people, the customer service folks, their front desk people, their tellers fail them? What and how can they avoid the social repercussion?

My wife is at the moment a pretty irate customer at a local socially aware bank. They've pretty much mismanaged her hard earned and saved funds with them, not reporting fund changes, not bothering to tail the market movements, resulting in her losing a fair amount of green. Of course, there's always valid excuses, of course, Greece went down, of course, of course, of course...

But when she calls her so called Relationship Manager and asks to speak to a supervisor, and there's absolutely no call back, no 'how may we help?', no 'is something bothering you' callback, there's a natural response – which is negative. No one cares? Perhaps they do. Perhaps they're all really busy. And perhaps, they are all so busy that they didn't have time to follow the market and adjust her investments?

And thus, this pushes me to blog, to tell tales about the lack of responsiveness, the sheer absence of customer service. That's what pushes me to tweet, as I did: #Rakbank #fail

Nike breaks viral record

2010-06-09T06:17:00.001-07:00

Nike isn't an official World Cup sponsor, but its three-minute "Write the Future" video broke the record for the biggest audience in the first week of a campaign with 7.8 million views. That record, incidentally, was by another Nike ad: the somber and strange "Earl and Tiger" ad, which debuted earlier this year with 6.3 million views in its first week.

Popularity of Nike's 'Write the Future' spot around the globe.
Nike's World Cup ad started a cast of international soccer stars including Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Franck Ribery and Christiano Ronald. (Mr. Rooney is shown a future living in a trailer if he fails to catch Mr. Ribery steaming toward England's goal.) As the chart from Visible Measures shows, the video truly has international appeal.
Interestingly, Pepsi also is not an official World Cup sponsor, but its "Oh Africa" has spent seven weeks on the Viral Chart.

YouTube is the platform that makes video powerful for viral ads like Nike's, so fitting on the week of its 5th birthday, YouTube landed its own ad on the chart, "YouTube Turns Five." Seven of the entrants this week are chart veterans, including Toyota, Old Spice, Evian, Gillette and Microsoft.

No. 10 is another newcomer, Canada's Fortnight Lingerie, with an example of an ad you probably wouldn't see on TV. It's almost not-safe-for-work content is excused somewhat by a public service in the form of a refresher course on CPR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE&feature=player_embedded

Courtesy of Ad Age

I just wanted to watch some football

2010-05-19T00:52:00.001-07:00

The FIFA World Cup is just a few days away. I'm beginning to plan my schedules, pack my fridge with a few cases of Coronas, and look ahead to some football on the telly. Except, of course, until I had to go on twitter to find out how and where I could watch it in the UAE. I'm told it's going to be broadcast here by aljazeera for a $100 one time subscription, and I could get all the info on www.aljazeerasport.net

Well I did go online and checked. Considering a huge expat population of expats in the UAE are going to watch, I'm afraid the site isn't really doing a great job in trying to get us to subscribe. I could not find (may be I'm not following the wonderful user intuitive navigation journey mapped out by them) the 'English' button. So, something's really wrong out there?

This is marketing opportunity gone weird. I haven't seen an ad, haven't found banners online, no mailers have arrived at my door, and I haven't seen any one in a mall trying to sell me a on-tv experience of the year. Huh? And, then when I seek it out (thanks to my friends on twitter), and I go to the reference portal, I get nothing.

Two things happen immediately. I am afraid that my on-tv experience will be nearly just as bad as my online experience – perhaps all the commentary will be in Arabic? Perhaps the score line will be shown in Arabic? I am already turned off, tuned off. But because I have no alternative, no choice, I will have to keep looking, trying to find a way. This is pathetic marketing.

The other thing that I will seek out will be perhaps to try and find the game online via a subscription, or a hack. I know it won't be the same as watching it on my LCD, but at least I will get what I want, when I want, and have a cool hundred left over for a few extra cases of Corona.

Here, There and Foursquare

2010-05-09T04:49:00.000-07:00

I normally don't jump on bandwagons. I also do not like to tell the whole world where I'm hanging out or doing business. I tweet very little of my personal life – I'm no celeb and my non 9-5 is mine. No one cares what I do, or so I hope, And, no I don't like being stalked. And I wouldn't want Joe Burglar (here in Dubai on a visit visa) to track down when it's really convenient for him to break and enter. And depart. So, no, I didn't foursquare. Up until now.

Location based apps are now everywhere, and they're usually quite useful. Yelp now has a 'check in' feature, but the biggest impact comes across (and into our part of the world, hello Dubai) from foursquare. Yes, just like that, one worded and so new age. Now that foursquare is beta'd on Blackberry, I thought I'd give it a spin.

It's quite simple to use, it can be fun, and no, you don;t have to be obsessive compulsive about being mayor or collecting badges. It's cool and easy to spot what others have to say about restaurants, clubs, hang outs, whatever, in and around the location you're in. You can find friends in the area, shout out to them (if they're foursquaring as well), so it's quite fun. Yes, it does work with twitter and facebook. And, already, I've been told via twitter, that my fave shawarma place in Jumeirah also makes great zingers.

Adding your favorite places is fun, and can get compulsive. The mapping is only as accurate as you make it, so I would say, that's a bit of a bug. More annoying are the people on it who check in multiple times, to say, a bus stop or an office building, just so they can get a mayor's badge.

Foursquare isn't one of those apps that will drop down. It has got genuine functional benefits, and for marketing folks like me, I can see quite a few programs that can ride on it. Also, I see it build up a huge database one day, and that is going to be bankable. A large volume of information, tips, find this here and don't go theres will also come in handy. And businesses are jumping in with prizes and discounts of those who check in, or check in often.

No, I'm not mayor of any place just yet. Not even my home or my villa compound, which I did track down and it wasn't yet mapped in. And i'm going to keep it that way for now. Thank you very much. I may be foursquare but I'm also paranoidround.

Facebook & Open Graph API

2010-04-22T03:20:00.000-07:00

Facebook and founder Zuckerberg are moving in big time to make our world wide web a more social, more 'like' friendly ecosphere. The Open Graph concept, at the moment, is about aggregating what people see, read, review, interact with and recommend. This way, people like you and me, would better connect – not just with what brands are saying about themselves and our reacting to them, but also amongst each of us, and sharing that opinion. It's Yelp all over, in a way.

It's connected via umbilical cord to Facebook's new “Like” button. FB's "Like" icon (or button) is a plug in. It let's us comment on what we see, experience in form of any kind of web content and put a positive spin on it via the "thumbs up' or Like icon. For FB related developing, the code is provided for developers to drop into their head tags. Bingo, the functionality is auto-added.
Zuckerberg claims that 1 billion “Like” buttons will be clicked on within 24 hours of launch.

Facebook's “Like” button is really an experience enhancer – one that brings a feeling of true interactivity to the world of customer vis-a-vis brand/product. Simple Facebook actions like 'add' or 'join' (as in a fan club) becoes a lot more social and has a lot more impact and reach – including leaving an impression on that brand's page or website. Not sure where that would leave the Facebook Connect concept, because 'Like' has quite a wide ranging footfall across both brand and social ecosphere.

Facebook in a release said:
You’ll begin seeing “Like,” or in some cases “Recommend,” buttons appearing on popular websites spanning a variety of industries, including NYTimes.com, IMDb, CNN.com, TIME.com, LIFE.com, Fandango, NHL.com, USA Networks, Levis.com, Univision and ABC.com.

For example, if I like a pair of jeans on Levis.com, my action will be shared with my friends on Facebook, where they can comment on it. I can also see which of my friends like the jeans on Levis.com.

Advertising vs Engagement

2010-04-17T21:52:00.001-07:00

You’ve heard it in seminars. Your board meetings sometimes veer off from talking about P&L and major corporate issues to focusing on digital. Your one tech junkie in the corner, the resident geek pops his head in and rants about ‘digital future’. Yes you kind of know about this. You acknowledge it. Yes, you recognize the writing on the facebook wall. Consumers are shifting their media consumption patterns in favour of the online world. Yes, in this part of the world. A little bit at a time. But yes.

But the reality is we’re mostly stuck in the traditional advertising vortex. Even online. We’re still so taken with creating ‘advertising’ that we forget that the dynamics have been shifted. The consumer has moved the goalposts from receiving one-way communications to interaction and engagement. They want to be part of the action, the give and take. And if you aren’t giving them relevance, experience, and a genuine value-add for their time spent with you, they aren’t taking the bait.

What we tend to forget is the fact that consumers have always been unpredictably outside thin slice channel silos. Our game has always been about value. Value in exchange for time. The digital marketing trick is about creating value – rich experiences, rewarding content, engaging, useful things delivered to them – where they want it, and when they want it. At their whim. At their convenience. Look at all the digital things we do every day – email, sms, phone calls, downloads, blogs, information gathering, googling – each one delivers something useful, something valuable. This is the core remote flick fighter. This is the new model. If you build this, they will come.

Engagement vs Advertising in digital code is Pull vs Push. Theirs vs Ours. The traditional online model (I know those two words together sound like oxymorons) is about awareness building. I have a new product, and here’s a ten page microsite that glorifies it, while also telling me about my vision, my mission, my CEO’s bio, and of course my ‘contact us’ details. And I have spent a considerable sum of my (miniscule) online budget on banners across various portals that I believe you go to, to drive you to my said microsite, and you better click through, or else. And, wait, since I am so 2010 ready that I have also put my microsite address on my print ads. Well, well.

No, because that just does not work. Well, it did nicely enough for a while, but it no longer cuts the ice. Today, it’s about building something that is interesting, something the consumer will gladly spend time with, and if done right probably even advocate. I’m not saying this is the death knell of all display advertising. Some display ads have a simple message ‘free upgrade’ , ‘5% interest’ and ‘$99 to London’ will get clicked through if it is in a relevant channel. But overall, our online communications needs to be way, way beyond advertising. It needs to be fresh, fun, fabulous as an experience.

What we tend to forget often that we are in the wow business. All of us. Offline maintsream creatives, suits, brand managers, CEOs et al. Brand-to-consumer communications is all about wow. We have a wow gadget, an unbelievably comfortable sofa, a juice so fresh it’s still on the tree, a free-lobotomy-with-nose-job offer, and for the CFO – yes, we’ve made a small but remarkable profit in the middle of a bust year kind of wow. So, the, how come when we tell people about all this, we forget the wow?

The magic of digital is the technology it sits on. Ever changing, ever evolving technology. The tech spine allows us to build a nice sexy body around it if we want. Use it cleverly and it can be rewarding – for both brands and consumers. Technology and the newness of it, the fresh wow bits it can deliver allows us to better entertain, better engage, better wow. Like the way Mini used augmented reality applications in their print ads – that led to quite a wow experience for the consumer (www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTYeuo6pIjY). And it doesn’t all have to be all tomorrow’s leading edge today. It can be simple like the first attempt by intel to engage the end-user in a fun way with their Five Note Symphony engagement idea (http://symphony.intel.com/).

Which brings us to my final point. We the guilty – the advertising fraternity – have so long ignored what the consumer wants to see, hear, feel, do and chased the Cannnes and other metalware glory , that we’ve lost sight of the consumer as creative possibility. Lo and behold the new creative director – the 19 year old YouTube upload kingpin out of Muscat. Guitar hero, garage band expert, iMovie editor and brand ambassador par excellence on YouTube. And, he is willing to work for you on a pro bono basis. And no, your brand does not have to be green or preach tree hugging, but just open. Meet John Doe or Salma the blogger or Sultan the facebook fiend – the social media sneezer. The one with self empowerment to make or break your brand. And he is a no-label free spirit who does not believe in advertising. But ask him to be part of your engagement plan, and he will happily take up your flag. The engager. The non advertiser. Your new ambassador. The new piper at the gates of dawn.

The Webisode: Here to stay?

2010-04-17T21:50:00.001-07:00

A webisode is a short episode which airs initially as Internet television, either as a download or streamed content – as opposed to first airing on tv.

The format can be used as a preview, a promotion, as part of a collection of shorts, or a commercial. A webisode is usually part of an existing drama or series or it may consist of entirely original material. A lot of webisodes are now being produced as original 'made-directly-for-online' content.

A webisode is simply a web episode – collectively it is part of a web series, a form of new medium called web television that characteristically features a dramatic, serial storyline, where the primary method of viewership is streaming online over the Internet.

While there is no set standard for length, most webisodes are relatively short, ranging from 1–10 minutes in length. With the increasing popularity of online media consumption in the region, the demand for creating short duration video content for distribution via web is becoming prevalent. For well established periods in the calendar which are known in the region for media consumption on a daily basis – such as Ramadan, when the serial TV episode format is hugely popular, webisodes delivered across online will also become a commonly accepted format. Interestingly, webisodes are also available in a more compressed format, even further optimized – for mobile – and these are known as mobisodes.

Webisodes are also becoming a popular format for branded content – where either a brand's product is 'indirectly' placed in some form of drama or continuing story, or in a direct brand driven game or user-selected ending format are also becoming popular as new 'channels' or brand marketing opportunities.

Consumer centric advertising

2010-04-14T22:38:00.000-07:00

For ad agencies like ourselves who work closely with multinational, regional and local brands, understanding 'consumer centric' is key. It's not a whole new mantra at all, it's always been around, but developing, engaging in 'consumer centric' brand communications is becoming a must have these days.

It's really about taking consumer insights and ensuring that brands can act on them, deliver their communications and their products and services to focus on those insights. It's about taking a long hard look at consumer behavior, needs, aspirations, time spend patterns, purchase behavior, social media engagement and comments – and then investing, changing, remodeling both organization and output (products!) to suit the consumer. The mistakes marketers make is to polish off the last mile – the product – to suit the customer, but at the core of the organization, at management, at R&D, at customer service levels, nothing changes. Consumer centric ideally means adapting to the lifestyle, attitudunal and behavioral patterns of the target consumer in all contexts.

As agencies, we've always relied on consumer insights. That's what account planning has been all about. And, today, more and more emphasis is being placed on taking those insights and combining them with traditional segmentation (demographics) and taking them a step further. Such insights not only help us in helping brands improve their end products but also help us in developing and crafting effective, resonating communications.

At the end of the day, it's all about engaging in dialog with the consumer and listening. And then taking those insights, those consumer voices and sharing them at all levels.

2010: What lies ahead

2010-02-24T20:58:00.000-08:00

2010: what lies ahead

1. Advertising will go mobile. We've been seeing this trend being talked about a lot, but this year it seems it's going to finally happen. Accurate measurement of mobile and the exponential growth of the medium (blame it on the iPhone app explosion?), combined with mainstream agencies and brands finally understanding the potential of the 'third screen' is bound to see growth in advertising spends on that platform.

2.Online advertising will certainly (need to!) get more creative. This will mean that the 'banner' – plain, flat, just there waiting for a click – will die out. Consumer demands will drive increased creativity and content within the framework. Attention seeking content, including video, forms-within-banner, banners with built in games, total page takeovers and other interactive advertising on banners should become the trend.

3.Social media and networking portals will emerge as new marketing and sales channels for brands. Commercial possibilities across many social media portals will allow brands to play a far more active role in not just engaging in conversations about their brands, but also pushing sales.

4.Crowdsourcing, and not just online. Crowdsourcing – or mobilizing consumers, interest groups and followers to develop brand communications across multiple online and mainstream channels is emerging as a clear trend across the marketing world. Whether for research, developing consumer driven content on video platforms and viral channels, or brainstorming on brand ideas, consumers in a crowd out there are becoming involved - and at huge cost efficiencies across the board. From politics (Obama did this rather well) to software development, people journalism to activism, crowdsourcing is going to become a key resource for both agencies and marketers.

5.The world is flat and so will media content be. With the increasing absorption of media across digital channels, content will become 'channel neutral'. So, a tv spot will emerge on YouTube and be shared on Facebook and tweeted about. If the content is interesting to the consumer, these will take viral flight on multiple social media channels. In order for this long tail to happen, formats need to be easily convertible and accessibility for the consumer will become key. Borders and boundaries of format will give way to seamless usability across channels.

6.Analytics and performance measurement will emerge as crucial players in how brands will require agencies and suppliers to be transparent and answerable. And, no, this will not be limited to online. So, soon enough, brands will be asking what works and what doesn't, and often tying in sales to marketing efforts as KPIs. Online advertising and media planning has theoretically always been measurable. The dynamic shift will happen in mainstream media, where, increasingly marketing managers will look at connecting ad bursts and campaigns to direct effects on products moving off the shelves.

7.Cheaper. Faster. Better. And then some. The differentiator will need to be something beyond the obvious. Brands will need to compete at all levels for consumer attention, purchase, retention and loyalty. With consumers sluggish in recovering from a fairly big meltdown, and their purchase patterns affecting everything else in the business side, brands need to bring a lot more to the table than just cheaper, or claim to be better, or deliver faster. The 'and then some' factor will be crucial. These may include superb after sales service, attention to detail, consistent track records, consumer engagement in product definitions etc. But there will have to be an edge.

8.Advertising in traditional media channels will continue to rule – specially in our region here in the Middle East. While, yes, there has been a lot of conversations on the 'shift to digital', the most cost effective mass-reach model will remain in the broadcast and satellite driven tv channels. While consumers are looking for the convenience, the customization and the delivery of internet driven content, one cannot ignore the fact that while the consumer wants more, the desire for 'better' is yet to outdo the desire for instant. So, with the advent of HDTV, and the possibilities of 3DTV coming to our region by 2010, advertising spends in traditional mass mediums will remain hero.

9.Sponsored content and placement might rear its head as a big player. With many consumers channel surfing during ad breaks or TiVO-ing out ads to watch pure content, brands will increasingly look at 'placement' where their products are woven into the fabric of the programmed content. This has traditionally happened in movies, on tv programs and serials, and it will grow in the online domain as well.

10.The consumer will emerge as the true brand spokesperson. With market shattering news like the Tiger Woods issue, what with John Terry, and God alone knows who else, the consumer might emerge as a strong contender to the brand personality throne. More companies may start to opt for the average guy on the street and his positive reviews, his peer group pressures and his influence, rather than depend on the Tigers and the Terrys.

Cancel the Dubai Obit

2009-12-02T03:34:00.000-08:00

I had emails from all over the world. Some were of genuine concern, some were of the told-you-so kind, and some were just keeping me in the loop. But most of the reports they quoted, most of the news sites I went to, and most of the Word of Mouth (or Mouse) I heard was all very schadenfreude – pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. The ultimate payback for all things hubris that Dubai is all about.

Here we are in Dubai. Bust boom bust time again. Dubai owes a hundred billion. Dubai has sold this, traded that, and left the building. Click on google maps and you'll find no Dubai. Just a big hole – a drain down which we saw a lot of money just go down, right? One hundred thousand people left on the Airbus 380. On Thursday night. One helluva plane huh?

Anyway, it all boils down to work. To bread on the table. To accounts in the bank and clients in the boardroom. 'How are you guys doing?' I've been asked a dozen times in the last few days. Well, truth is, we're OK so far. Touch wood. We've still got the world's top three brands – Google, Coke, McDonald's (top by brand recognition survey, I didn't make that up guys). We've still got digital work coming our way which we are slowing down, because we don't have enough bench strength. We haven't quite heard yet about the death of Dubai. And, I'm no betting man, but I'm guessing we won't. There'll be a lot of chinese whispering, a lot if rumor mongering, gossip, tales, but the truth will be that the fundamentals in Dubai are pretty strong, and no, Dubai may be has a virus, but isn't dead.

On one of our agencies, we had a couple of clients say, they might need to be cautious for 1Q 2010. Hell, yes, of course. No problem with that. We're going to be cautious too. We're going to be watching every penny. But not because Dubai has a cold or had sneezed, but because we haven't quite come out of the R word yet – globally. Let's face it. We are a regional agency network. We're across 16 countries. Yes, Dubai is HQ, but we clock a lot of food miles as far as our bread basket goes. And it's the same with most of our larger regional clients. Their regional steam ahead plan may blip a bit because HQ has a speed bump installed in the parking lot, but frankly, it won't be a big negative hit.

Already, the negative waves across the world have eased. Markets have bounced back. Sentiment is a funny thing. It forgets the bad, the pain, the tough times, because optimism is a healer, a balm. So, no folks, Dubai is OK. Business is fine. People are great. Work is wonderful. This is just a note to say, cancel the obit on Dubai you media folks around the world. The news of the demise was an exaggeration.

Upsize. Downsize. Tweetsize.

2009-11-16T19:47:00.000-08:00

I've been driving around lately in Dubai with one eye on the road and the other on OOH. I can be bipolar and split like that at the same time without really losing focus on the road ahead. Well, usually. And, the reason behind this is my ongoing research project into how creative is being resized from print for outdoor without any concern for readability.

Back when I was a CD, we always did a wink-and-blink 3-second test when developing artwork for billboards – the ones you whizz past on the highway, or even crawl past on the streets. Because, the window of exposure is short. When adapting from a print ad, we would normally strip most of the copy and details, keep the main call to action and that was it. The headline, the logo, the product – say it all in like 3 seconds. Either art directors have gotten lazy, or media planners aren't even looking at what they're putting out there – but I am seeing a lot of outdoor ads with a lot of totally unreadable copy in there. Essentially, I am seeing a lot of outdoor where the artwork as simply been stretched or upsized. Like fries at McDonald's.

Some attempts are made for large billboards, but a lot of mupis out there, specially the ones on middle-of-road dividers are replicas of the 1/4 page ad, re-done in a different resolution output. Unreadable. Undecipherable. Waste. Come on folks, all it takes is a little bit of attention, and it's totally possible to have one campaign executed in slightly different artwork templates because the mediums are different. Trust me, and it will stretch your client's ad dollar. He deserves it. As does the Joe on the street squinting to decipher your message.

And my final rant, while I am at it. I came across a series of tweets last week where the ad was tweeted – not as a link (perhaps they didn't quite know how to do that?) but as a series of 140c tweets. The headline first. Which was pretty much ok, and should have ended with the brand name and would have been a pretty much acceptable (although lame) brand driven tweet. But then they started to unravel the paragraph of body copy in tweet after tweet. Until they were a complete abuse of the very existence of twitter. And stupid, meaningless waste of time and space. Yes, it's fine to drop in a link to your ad and have your tweeple share it with you, but you cannot tweetsize an ad verbatim. That's lazy.

The Ramadan drop

2009-09-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

The decision makers haven’t come back from holiday. Summer’s still around. That recession thing hasn’t really gone away here. We’re consolidating. And, the worse one yet – it’s going to be put up for a pitch.
Having come back from a brief break, I arrived with renewed mind and refreshed body hoping to see some sort of an uplift. Ramadan usually comes with bags of media spend. And the creative and content to go along with it. Traditional media planners find this time of the year – in our region – a bit of a bonanza. But apparently things look different this year (AdNation headlines a story on Saudi spending going AWOL).

I touched base with a few seniors in the business (not just at our agencies, but across the board) and it’s pretty much the same story. They haven’t come back. They as in the clients who went off to cooler climes, shopping trips and family hols. They as in the ones with direct access to the purse strings. So, no major spend decisions are going through, unless of course someone planned way, way ahead and had the foresight to get approvals, budgets and plans locked in before the cruel summer set in.

This year, Ramadan has sneaked into summer, and most every one who can, have either extended their summer holidays deep into the month of Ramadan or have taken a few extra days off and are planning to come back after. One client I know is holed up in London until Eid. One other will only come back in early September. So, Ramadan ad spend plans are on hold. Meanwhile, I watched on the Beeb how London High Street stores are extending hours and hiring Arabic speaking staff to meet the faithful summer rush from the region. Lucky them.

All this because summer’s still around. It’s still hot and humid, and avoiding coming back here when work is often at a slower pace isn’t top priority it seems. But the industry cannot grind to a halt because the mercury hasn’t ebbed and the fast is on. Consumers have for the most part returned from their summer sojourns – although rumors abound about a summer exodus (in Dubai) and a near permanent drop in the expat population.

And the recession/correction thingie is still around – always available as the first or last resort when it comes to pointing to a reason why ad spends are down. Business news is also rife with talks on major consolidations (read as corrections of earlier business gluttony). What we knew as X is going to be absorbed under Y and then branded as Z. And there’s no word on what’s going to happen to staff in those companies. Bit of a go figure situation.

Finally, friends of mine in the industry are telling me that the latest new ‘staller’ is the pitch. Clients are not signing off on plans, approving campaigns and holding out on all things good for the agency balance sheet because ‘the account may be up for pitch’. That’s the one that causes jitters, doesn’t it? You could recover from a recession, you know where’s there’s summer there’s a Fall (that came out badly, sorry), you know the decision makers will eventually have to end their short term lease in Portobello Square. But a pitch? That’s a whole different bridge.

The Turkish Airline Digital Pitch

2009-06-27T22:54:00.000-07:00

McCann Turkey in part of innovative digital pitch

We blogged about interesting pitches by agencies earlier. Here's one about an interesting pitch process opened up by Turkish Airlines. Our colleagues in McCann Istanbul are working on this pitch, and we our digital guys – Innovations – working closely with them.

There's a lot of buzz on twitter on the pitch already, and McCann are working on making this a digital winner. Here is a report on that pitch from a blog...

We’re working on the Turkish Airlines pitch, a company that completely understands what thinking digital is. The brief was designed like a digital treasure hunt, spanning across social media.

It’s obvious that the e-commerce team of Turkish Airlines wants to emphasize their digital know-how, as well as they want to create a viral effect months before the intended digital project goes live.

The first thing we got in our hands was nothing but a 2 page “treasure map,” which looked like a simple mind map with the keyword “thybrief” at the center and the most important social media sites linked around.

It’s been easy to collect planted hints on Flickr, Twitter, Tumblr, Blogspot, FriendFeed and Slideshare. With so many geeks around us, we discovered the password for the thybrief Gmail account hidden in the HTML source code of the thybrief blog. Then we seized Gmail, Google Docs and Mindmeister accounts for the user thybrief. So the puzzle is solved.

Now what’s left is only finding the idea to impress a client with such a broad understanding of digital media, along with the perfect implementation. If you guessed we already found the idea, then you know us too well. Please join us wishing good luck to our competitors; that’s what they are going to need badly.

The Film Before the Drama

2009-06-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

I was reading on BBC Sport how triumphant Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola showed a specially made film 10 minutes before the final in Rome. The film featured highlights of his players' finest moments – featuring every member of the squad – and was set to the soundtrack of Gladiator. We all know what happened afterwards. Great Men made Rome Great (awesome ad before the Champions League final by Nike, and now they’ve changed it to reflect Barca as winners, and it’s even better!).

This reminded me of agency pitches. Major pitches are big games to use the metaphor. But how often do we prepare properly? How well are we rehearsed? Do we as a pitch team get shown the movie (metaphorically) – to inspire, to charge us up, thin the blood, make the adrenalin rush to our heads to we can go flat out and conquer?

Having been to more pitches over the last few weeks than I would like to remember, I see this as an area our whole industry can build on. Some of the pitches are spot on, the content is great, it addresses the brand, answers the brief, but sometimes the team is so lifeless, so listless, so yawn boring, that you wouldn’t buy peanuts from them, let alone give them your brand to handle. And on other occasions, the prep work is so poor that the clients are astounded at how off-brief the presentation is. Either way, it isn’t a winning scenario.

I believe winning pitches is about chemistry. If you have your ingredients right, it all boils down to who’s in the room and how well they can sell the stuff. Wizards pulling rabbits out of hats. That’s what we need.

I believe only the best presenters should present. The rocket scientists who engineer the space shuttle stay behind in Houston, and NASA finds their best of breed astronauts to do the moon landings. That to me is the winning formula. In the pitch room – the moon landing phase – we need to find the astronauts who will go that one small step that becomes a giant leap for all.

Finally, there always needs to be a Guardiola for every magic trick that Barca did this year. The pitch team needs a leader, a coach, a go-to guy who mentors the team, checks the moves, drives and makes the content coherent and finally, who can stand there and make it all look credible. He’s the guy, or she’s the gal, who strategically is sound, is credible in front of the client, and who is passionate about the art of winning. He can change his team, change tactics half way through the pitch, and who coordinates the players.
He’s the one who plays the movie for the team. And he’s the one who helps unfold the drama.

Medal of Dishonor: The new Playstation Customer Service Game at Jumbo Electronics

2009-05-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

There’s a new game out there from Sony and Jumbo, and it’s about the fine art of post-sales customer rip off. I’m calling it the Medal of Dishonor. If you have mastered the art of using fine print, know how to really, really have dodgy customer service, have inventive ways of ignoring every rule in the Customer Relationship guidebook, and play Big Bad Bully because the poor customer has no choice – this game is for you.

The Sony/Jumbo Game is easy – and potentially, it comes free with every PS3 you buy here. This is what is apparently written in the Terms and Conditions of the Warranty. Buy a Playstion 3 here in the Middle East region, well, actually, here in Dubai from Jumbo and keep your fingers crossed. If perchance you have a Power Supply failure (my unit just went bust with a pop noise, similar to a silencer-fit handgun – gamers are familiar with this sfx), all you need to do is take it in to Jumbo for a fix-it. As luck would have it, my PS3 unit went bust literally a week after the 1-year warranty expired – so I am one of the lucky few who are playing this game!!.

I took it in to Jumbo at the Mall of the Emirates, and sure enough a couple of days later, I got an SMS message saying that the estimate amount for the repair was AED 1010. Imagine! The power supply unit cannot be costing any more than $20! And a whole new unit costs Dhs 1600!

I have asked the Jumbo guy (Ahmed on +9714 285 1485 xt 103) why it was so expensive. Surely a power supply unit couldn’t cost that much. He said, “no as per the Sony policy no PS3 units are repaired, but a new unit is given instead”. Now, why on earth should I have to pay for a new unit because I think a power supply unit went out and Sony won’t or can’t fix it?

I asked what the problem was but was given no answer. Apparently, no matter how small the problem was, the only thing Sony would do for me would be to replace my unit with a refurbished one. For Dhs 1010. That’s the cleverest, dirtiest, dodgiest way of after-sales revenue generation that I have ever come across in my 20+ years as a marketing professional.

Endgame: I did get resolution – not from Jumbo, but from Sony. I called and emailed Sony, and I am glad to say, they immediately actioned a follow up, and apparently have now arranged for a replacement piece (a refurbished set). I am astounded that I heard nothing from Jumbo. NOT A WORD! That's the WORST customer service experience I have ever had.

You can't step aside when you have no legs to stand on

2009-04-28T02:37:00.001-07:00

From Campaign magazine's blog and my response...

My response to Campaign blog below:

This is both funny and sad at the same time. Funny because, it’s laughable that such bullies exist, and that they till this date believe that they can threaten to take their ball away when you won’t play by their rules. And it’s sad because as an industry in this region, we have built a legion of such characters. Bullies, who believe they own the ball and the ball game. Sadder still is the fact that no one checks them, no one sticks a hand in their face and points out that the goal posts may have moved, and that they may own the ball, but the playground is for every one.

What I question is the assumption that ‘individual power (or perceived influence)’ still exist. If it does, we need to counter it, and rather than trying to cure the disease, euthanize the corrupt, the diseased and stamp out the plague. Yes, I do know it exists. But I think it’s more perception, than power. More sabre rattle when the shields are down and one is weak and exposed, than true bravado. Creating, building advertising institutions are a solution, but these bodies need to be led by people who are about the good of the industry, the round table, rather than knights themselves.

No one is above the law, no corner of clout is bigger than the ring, no tight group of influencers can hold sway today, because the way we communicate, share, speak and listen is changing. Voice is no longer a one way rant, a sermon, a beatitude from a hilltop. It is many-to-many, it is peer-to-peer, and it is in many ways making ‘power’ open source.

To me, the danger is not in the threat. Bullies always have used threat. Power (or perception) empowers corruption. The danger is in the threatened consequence. If by some odd chance, our industry allows that consequence to unfold and the bully has the last laugh, than we are in trouble. In need of policing such abuse and ending it.

Let’s go to the round table. An IPA like body for our region? Yes. But before that let’s unite, use our voices, our new open sources, to stand up and say No to Hunger for Power. Let’s disarm them.

Time for the power hungry to step aside
A nostalgic smile swept across my face the other day. It wasn’t triggered by thoughts of childhood innocence, of musical moments, or of women I once knew. No, it was triggered by a threat. The kind we used to get all the time. Do this, do as I say, or face the consequences. That’s basically what it amounted to.

It was my second such threat from an adman in as many months. What made me smile was not the threat itself, but the fact that people like this still exist. The arrogance of it beggars belief. They are, unfortunately, stragglers from an older world – a world where individual power (or perceived influence) was what mattered, not the industry as a whole. These people still believe that intimidation, jobs for the boys and the pursuit of personal gain are acceptable business practices.

But as Louis Hakim, chairman of the Advertisers’ Business Group, and Philipp Vogeler of Al Jisr Company, say, it’s time for individual power to be well and truly replaced by the power of institutions. As Hakim remarks: “The time has come to leave legacies behind by institutionalising the advertising and media industry.” If this happens, the theory goes that people leading these institutions will work for the good of the industry, rather than for the good of themselves.

However, what advertising institutions do exist are either weak, little respected, or cater only to a small close-knit community of people. In the absence of strong institutions, individuals have filled the gap. Therefore, just as a creative directors’ forum or an art directors’ club is needed in the UAE to help raise creative standards and encourage community interaction, so a regional equivalent of the UK’s Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) is a prerequisite for industry advancement. The IPA’s goal is to promote the value of agencies and it is a hugely respected and influential professional body. It offers globally recognised training, constantly carries out research, organises industry-wide events, and has its own effectiveness awards.

If the Middle East’s adland is to distance itself from a scenario where “the region is governed by a few people in whose hands the fate of the industry lies”, as Vogeler points out, then a strong, respected, influential and world-class institution such as the IPA must be established as soon as possible. Recent events have only reinforced this view.

Sheikh Mohammed online interview

2009-04-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

Having struggled through reading column after column from the western media about the immediate demise of Dubai, one was looking for a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. That light came in strong and bright, riding on the e-interview conducted by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and amongst other things, visionary extraordinaire.

Setting a benchmark for global transparency, laying the foundations for open communications and driving home the point that Dubai isn't quite done for yet (as reported in the Guardian and the Independent), Sheikh Mohammed mixed notes of optimism and clarity of vision with a healthy dose of rebuke for the rumor and negative speculation.

The questions from the media were wide ranging, and the answers were well rounded, pretty much transparent and had that touch of Sheikh Mohammed all over them. I didn't see a question on personal bankruptcy and how there is absolutely no protection for workers who lose their jobs, are unable to repay their loans (mortgage, personal or credit card debt) and are supposed to end up in jail. Although I am sure, if put in the right context in front of the Prime Minister we would have gotten some answers. Hopefully someone somewhere will address this issue.

The Hurdles in Digital Work

2009-03-14T04:39:00.000-07:00

Those of us who have been running around on this playing field (not level, increasingly unchartered, and mostly unseen) know that the goal posts move every day. The truth is out there, but myths abound. The knowledge we have today is old hat tomorrow. And, because it’s mostly the world wide web – geography is history.

What both marketers on brand side and agency financial pundits often don’t get is how a really cool, totally creatively outstanding digital exercise can have zero or near zero media spend attached to it. Microsoft and Ms Dewey? Viral word. Burger King’s Subservient Chicken? Same. BMW films? What media spend?

That’s a big financial hurdle right there. Massively successful programs that do not yield immediate dollar returns for the agency. It builds brand, probably also creates demand, but doesn’t add to agency bottom line. So, what happens is, when it is seen as something that doesn’t generate immediate revenue it gets to be a bit on the wrong side of the ‘must do’ line.

Another big hurdle is experience. In an industry where experience – the black bag of goodies, the reel – is what makes or breaks you, this is a road less travelled. New insights, new sets of software, multiple options and fresh skills developed on a continuum are all necessary skills sets for the digital creative. And these skills need to be updated continuously.

Even beyond skills, research and studies relevant in January are outdated by February. And in March, the whole demographic is testing new waters, new channels, new platforms.

Those of us involved in managing digital agencies or the digital sides of a mainstream agency are also faced with the hurdle of uniformity – or rather the complete absence of a uniform model. There cannot be a standardised pricing model, cannot be a routine creative process model, and there should not be just one campaign with a follow up that is more of the same. Change is the only real constant, to use a cliché.

onsumer expectation changes, updates itself and demands different and asks for more every day, every hour. For agency-client relationships, understanding this is crucial. “But we paid only $X last year for a banner (static) on 120 different sites, and this year you’re asking for $3X for banners on only 30 sites and a connected microsite?” the brand manager will ask. Go figure an answer to that one.

Try and explain rich media. Try explain interstitial or page takeover. The rate card is dead, unless of course your creative also is six feet under.

The biggest hurdle of course is talent. Good digital talent is near impossible to find. Skill sets in Flash, Java, .Net, SEO & SEM, Silverlight, pure digital design are all becoming hard to source. Competition is tough. Agencies are not just competing against themselves, but much larger, much more powerful digital players like Facebook, Google, Yahoo and AOL.

And the ones that are ambidextrous – the ones who can write Flash, HTML, a bit of smart copy and do killer retouch work on Photoshop all in a day’s work – they are gold. But finding them, holding on to them? Not easy.

The problems aren’t any different in our part of the world , in this geography of the global adnation. They’re just more compounded because we’re still adapting to what we learnt yesterday, while the search guru who left and joined Yahoo is adopting tomorrow. Quickly at that.

AWARD WINNING DIGITAL

2009-03-14T04:38:00.001-07:00

Judgment Day is almost up on us for the Lynx Awards, and the question on everyone’s minds is what makes for an award-winning digital creative piece? I’m tempted to say ‘engagement’ should be the key criteria – whether the particular communication traps the mouse and engages the eyeball and moves on to some sort of desired action and ongoing interaction after that.

But, simply, crudely put, I ask: “Does it interrupt in a creative way?” At the end of the day, it’s about pulling me away from what I am doing and then holding my attention long enough to make me want to know more – even though I had no intention of heading in that direction.

As digital creatives, we preach the gospel of “non-interruptive, fluid engagement” – one that resonates with the target audience enough to draw them in. But, I feel compelled to say, against my grain, that it does start with ‘interruption’. Once the path that I am headed down is suddenly ‘forked’ and I am given a choice – an interesting one – that I click on to the ‘alternative’ – then, I am responding, interacting, participating, moving closer to the real intent of that fork.

This choice, this ‘hey-wait-a-sec-and-look-at-this’ moment, isn’t just limited to, say, online banners or messages. They can be entire web pages, sites, portals, games, social media, networks, experiences. But each one relies completely on participation. If they’re googling a query and find you, do they click through and participate in your exchange of information? No matter how boring the content may be, is it compelling enough in its presentation, in its format, in its creative appeal to ask for and facilitate interaction?

And, then there’s interruption-of-interaction, meaning, once you’ve hooked your target and trapped the mouse, what happens if that process gets interrupted? Do they come back, because, they were pretty much into what you were saying in the first place? We live in a continuum of participation, engagement and interruption. What makes a web page ‘sticky’ is when, no matter what the ‘further interruption’ (phone call, sms, instant message, email checks, other work, kids) the target comes back to your message, your exchange with him or her.

Creatively speaking, it does not have to be about the execution only. If the overall idea (just as in ATL) is big enough, the consumer will resonate and stay, and interact, and click through, and give you more. We have to realize that if we talk about participation and engagement, we are, by default, talking about a two way street. Give and take. The old one-to-many, preaching from a platform, thumping a pulpit or a soap box is long gone. So, if the target is compelled – through the idea, through the creative approach and the offer of the reward – that to me is overall a winning proposition. Up for the award.

Is the idea worth googling? Are they going to click through to your dialog? Is it quick and if not, is it worth waiting for? Will they look across the entire site? Will they give you their email address? Tell a friend? Will they talk about you on their Facebook wall? On Twitter? Blog you? Will they participate in your journey? Take part? Be your ambassador in the long term?

If and when all these happen, you’ve got a winning idea.

DOOM & GLOOM & THE MIDDLE EAST

2008-11-24T21:33:00.001-08:00

How bad can it be in the Middle East? Are we reeling under the gloom of the US market's mortgage driven economic downturn? Is the price of oil – volatile as it is today – affecting the way we do business here in the region? Is our industry hit?
Are masive cutbacks in spending goig to happen? Will there be a great bailout for the auto industry in the US? Is real estate in the region going under?

There's a great bumper sticker you'll see on cars in Canada. It says "When America sneezes, Canada catches a cold". This time around, it seems the whole world is catching the cold. The gloom and doom virus is upon us all. From Alaska to Australia from Zimbabwe to Zanzibar, the economy is well and truly in for trouble.

Inflation, deflation, banks going under, companies going bust, it's all around us, everywhere. Here in the Middle East, for a while, there seemed lke the ripples wouldn't reach our shores. But, thanks to the internet, thanks to globalization, thanks to a 24/7 media, the word, the virus has spread, and spread quickly.

The people have panicked, one headline read. And, as if like a giant awakening, itis s taking its toll. This is a sentiment, not necessarily a cold reality. People here in the region, small time investors, punters are screaming scared and running with the bears. And in their path lie lost jobs, banks halting loans, companies threatening close downs and deflation – if that were possible.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. While this region is not immune to it all, the chances of a faster recovery are real. Oil canot, will not, stay down around the $50 barrel mark forever. Winter is ahead and some pundits are predicting oil will go back – the world needs to heat homes and offices, cars are still on the road.

Real estate in the region is a commitment to people – and people still need homes. There cannot be a flight out of the region – a flight where people leave to go back to where they came from – because, as they say, there is not there, there. In fact, Dubai is where they are still flocking to, with hope, with the desire to make that inevitable comeback. Things will turn around, although it may not be imminent and immediate. Staying the course here is key.

It''s really up to us in the industry to lead the initiative of weathering the storm. We'll have to find ways to stack up our defense mechanisms. Look outside the proverbial box. We'll need to reinvent, re-direct. Cutbacks in traditional media spends? What about looking at more cost effective spends in digital? Companies still need some platforms to communicate. Still need to push the brand message forward. Still need to sell product and service. So, yes there may be a few long tails to this whole meltdown, but it's for us to avoid the hits and work around them.

The Middle East has always been a different kettle of fish, a different barrel of oil. This too shall pass.

Much ado about award winning creative

2008-10-13T22:01:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of ink (well, online, i.e.) at the moment on agencies and award-aimed creative work. Is it kosher for agencies to do pro-active, award-driven work that's not really part of the client's brief? Who commissions such work? Who checks it? Is it released in pucca press? Does the agency have a broadcast certificate? Am OK from the client? A blessing from the client? What's the thin line? And when does one cross it?

Creatives around the world are driven by podium glory. Not all work is done for clients with the brand at heart. And that's not just work that's entered into the grand raffle of ad awards. Day in, day out, creatives do work that is self gratifying. I'm not for a moment saying all work is like that, but a lot of it is. Often, it's off brief, off brand strategy, but the work looks great, and the copy is cleverly crafted, and it's all so much a work of art, rather than an effective communication that sells the brand. So, no big deal, you'd say, when the creatives go one step further and do the same thing for award entries?

But isn't it a push too far? Award winning entries are meant to be work that is done for the brand, on brief, and ones that are effective, ones that resonate with consumers, and leave a mark. Not just beautiful work. Effective work. Real work.

The standards in the Middle East over the last few months have been great. We've seen some gorgeous work entered for the Lynx Awards and for Cannes. Winning work, real work, good stuff. But a few have raised their eyebrows and questioned some of it. FP7 Doha's entry for the EA games which won massive accolades at Cannes has now come up as a hot topic for debate. It's a bit late in the day, isn't it? Crying over spilt milk, or, to be more precise, a gold lion? Apparently EA games have disowned it, they didn't ask for it, they had nothing to do with it. Talk to the team at FP7 Doha, and you'll hear a different story. Yes, they admit, they didn't put in the logos they should have, but, the ads, say FP7 were not faked.

More actually, where creative directors are standing up and saying Enough! with the metal chasing. They want to do real work. I read about a culture in the region that's "ill equipped" to do real work. I so buy that if the winning directors then go back to their creative pods and churn out mediocre ad after ad. That's the line they need to be aware of. And that's what should really be awarded.

The Last Mile and Infiniti

2008-10-05T10:05:00.000-07:00

I have two rather close friends in the industry – Abhijeet Pundit and Francesca Ciaudano – both of whom are brand guardians for the Infiniti automotive brand regionally. The automotive business isn't exactly an easy one to be in. It's crowded, there's intense competition, and what really makes or breaks advertising, no matter what, is the last mile. I have often heard it being said that in the automotive industry, sales is sexy and all about spanking new showrooms and the smell of new cars, but what really counts is after sales. Service is key. That's what endears you to the brand, the product, the relationship.

I drive an Infiniti. Having been a European (read as UK/German) manufactured snob on badges all my life, I just fell into this Infiniti deal, and it's been two years, and I have never looked back. And, hear you me, I ain't getting out soon. I love the car. But more than anything else, it's the last mile in the relationship that I like. The service.

Go to the Infiniti Dubai site, and every bit of the cost is there for all to see. I love it. That's transparency. That's being up front when it counts. Much better than when I drove my ex-car to somewhere way beyond the airport, was forced to hire one of their cars and then went back next day and paid excess of 3000 dhs for a 20k km service. Steep huh? So, I See yad that German badge.

Or hey, my ex-ex-car, another German badge, when the windows would not roll up, and I paid 3000 dhs to get that fixed. This in the very first year of ownership. Whatever happened to my warranty? Oh, apparently that tiny part, the one that rolls up the window, that wasn't covered by Germany.

And then, I went Japanese. No surprises, no frills on the bills, and I'm lovin' it. What or who makes the difference however is the guy on the phone. I usually don't use names in my blogs when I write negative bits, but this is so positive, so much of an example if there was one, that I musty name this guy: Jessico. He is the service manager at Infiniti in Jumeirah (Shk Zayed Road) and his politeness, his always willing to help attitude is absolutely what makes my Infinti ownership so fabulous.
Jessico is the last mile. He is the one who makes the ads that Infiniti do in the papers day after day believable. He is the brand in action.

The Real in Real Estate

2008-10-04T06:28:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year. In Dubai, Cityscape defines the moment of truth for the real estate sector. Every year, investors, buyers, sellers, bankers, owners, tenants, the curious and the doomsday sayers all wait for this event. And, each year, it just gets hotter. Except this year, as I write, things are really, really on the edge.

Funnily enough, most every one I know in the ad industry also holds their breath. Someone who has a fair grasp of the industry here i the UAE told me that most agencies are '30% deep in real estate'. Meaning, around 30% of their revenues, in one form or another are real estate related communications related. Thus you see, if there's a spiral headed south, the ad industry here is not going to sit back and sigh and say 'There but for the grace of God...'

What I don't get is this wild wind of panic sentiment. When every stockbroker around is fighting for survival, when every market is in turmoil, hasn't the long standing sentiment always been to rely on real estate? To fall back on things like brick and mortar? But I guess the panic that's hit the money markets are drifting across the real estate segments as well. Although, even in the hardest hit markets, the strong real estate corners are holding steady. Let's just hope sense prevails. We wait and watch.

Post Ramadan

2008-09-28T23:54:00.000-07:00

Come October, strange things happen. Halloween is just around the corner. The sky changes color. The season unfolds a turn. Here in Dubai, it's Ramadan. Every one seems to be on a slower gear ratio. Some tempers are frayed. Some of the driving here in Dubai is more Dubai than ever – meaning it's suicidal at its best.

Advertising takes no backseat however. I remember Ramadan used to be a time of withdrawals. Ad people went on slow-mo because clients went that way. There was a burst just pre-Eid, but the rest was a blur between a day long fast, a hurried Iftar and a sumptuous Suhoor (the feast at night, the prep for the next day of nothing at all).

Things have changed. Ramadan is less working hours. More work. The lesser hours you work, the more stressed you are. tighter Deadlines get tighter. Schedules whirr by. Before you wink, it's Eid around the corner. It's a lunar phase. Just a few clockwise movements on the Panerai (not mine, my colleagues, fake from Karama).

But hey, I woke up. Early morning one Ramadan day (this morning actually) to the soothing but challenging prayer call I realized this was it. I had to kick start. Give up. Sacrifice. Stand by with my colleagues who are fasting in some way. Give up the couch, the bed, the Stella. Get steadfast on something. Ergo, I blog.

I am not an ad guy really. Or at least, I don't admit being one. I am free. Free of a career description, a job profile, an industry badge and a dna stamp that says – yew, adman. No, no such luck for you to heap insults on me. I am non competitive. I am not here to target you, your job, your creative work, your agency or your CEO. You will not find me on monster.com with a profile that's full of half-truths, half delusions of grandeur. I am the informed, inquisitive consumer. Here in Dubai. And I am awake, and no, I will not surrender. Are you ready?

I found Nurai

2008-09-28T23:30:00.000-07:00

With Dubai Cityscape just around the corner, the newspapers are getting filled with real estate ads. The pages are full of promises on sale, the invest now and get rich quick dreams on sale. One campaign that did catch my eye was for a project in Abu Dhabi called Nurai Islands. It was introduced a few months ago, and the campaign's creative force was this woman – Nurai – lamp in hand on a beautiful beach, looking out on to the horizon as the sun sets.

I was in Milan a few weeks ago, and thumbing through the brochure for the La Scala Theatre, what do I see? Nurai! But hold on, not the Nurai we've seen here in our press. The originail, or the half sister, The clone. The original. The American Express Platinum Card version.

How does this happen? I know they're cloning sheep and sundry other animal forms. But beautiful Nurai? The developer, Zaya should be able to say something on this I reckon?