Way back in June last year I had profiled this little known start up in my blog - aardvark.
I’m not saying I told you so…. but looks who’s gone and bought them for $50 mn.
Now - there’s a Indian equivalent that I profiled as well, Voicetap. I’m not saying anything here…. but I’m sure those guys are tap dancing away at the moment.
What’s been buzzing in the world of social networks?
- Google Buzz: Well my class unanimously agreed that Google Buzz is late in the game but Google had no choice. Read Jeremiah’s take on this strategy and the impact on the stakeholder spectrum (facebook, twitter, SEO etc.). Personally, I agree with both but I’m intrigued about how this fits in with the story for Google Wave.
Social Gaming
- A quick mention of ibibo. One of the largest desi social networks. Recently they’ve launched a marketing blitz on ‘Why play akele? Play social games at ibibo’. Reminds me of a childhood PJ. What did the lonely banana say to the other banana. “I am a-kela“. But hats off to ibibo for the first strong positioning statement from an Indian social network. Desi Martini, Big Adda, Fropper, iTimes… they’ve all tried bollywood masala and failed to make a dent into facebook and orkut market share
- We all know Zynga (of Farmville and Mafia Wars fame). Well they’ve opened an office in Bangalore and that made front page news in all major dailies.(that’s a bit much!). However our very own Rodinhood has lots to say about the space. (Side note: Rodinhood is by Alok Kejriwal of of c2w and g2w fame. I met him way back in 1999 when I was still in college. He treated us to a nice breakfast and was beaming proud of running one of the few dot coms to survive the crash. I guess he realised the B2B mantra way before the rest of the online junta)
Love is in the air
For some reason I added ‘Love’ in the title of this blog. With V day last week, I guess I have to give it due share of importance. Check out this winner ad from Google. (and yes… I couldn’t resist the pink and red border)
Paying the Price of working in India
Paypal got suspended in India. That’s huge. Reserve Bank of India - would you have done that to an ‘offline’ player like ICICI?
Is your brand listening?
Real time feedback is the single largest lesson for brand positioning on the internet. I was pleasantly surprised with NEO Sports recently. Have a look at this twitter conversation and how quickly you can win back trust just by acknowledging the customer respectfully. (Read bottom to top)
@ameyamhatre thnkfully, they’ve acknowledged my protests. let see how they mend their ways.
Thats prompt,thanks!RT @NEO_Cricket: @nareshb all your points have been noted and ll be fwded to the concerned person. Thnks for ur feedback
an appeal to ur reason (& MBA bosses) @NEO_cricket : adding an extra second to two to ur ad slots don’t increase a brand’s mindshare
wud @MMXSurprise like it if I don’t buy their xcllent FB fone just cos @NEO_cricket ’s prgrmming (cutting short coverage for ads) sucks?
to brands advertising on @NEO_cricket : Watch where you r treading, you are causing resentment amongst your customers
a sincere msg to @NEO_cricket : not allowing a proper closure to an over by stretching ads is not world-class programming
Social Media Marketing - Welcome to India!
Hello Readers,
At Gaboli, we’re conducting a survey for all MBA alumni in India. This is in association with the ex Dean of Alumni Affairs, Delhi University.
It’ll take 5-7 minutes and I’ll be happy to share the results with anyone interested. So if you completed a MBA from India Click Here. The deadline is Feb 14th!
WYSIWYG is one of my favourite acronyms. In the last few days, we’ve been consulting a private equity company on implementing a Wiki based knowledge platform. On the top of my google apps account, I see a google ad for a rich text editor/ WYSIWYG based platform.
Anyway, if we’ve spoken recently, you’ll agree my entrepreneur journey is constantly full of inspection, introspection, retrospection etc. One change I see is that it’s more important to be decisive on all matters in life and hence, judging where people (read customers, suppliers, partners) stand on the various spectrums in life is a big part of the game. When you’re in a company, you take a person for face value because he/she has a designation - like or not, your relationship is governed to an extent.
As an entrepreneur I’ve come to value genuiness at a whole new level. I’d rather have a potential customer bang the phone down rather than have us work out a consultative 40 page proposal, only to hand it off to their favourite vendor to copy. (Yes, you know who you are!)
So I wonder what kind of people are living life WYSIWYG? Any theories? (Leave a comment below). My theory is that there is something about corporate culture and management education that kills the WYSIWYGness in people. I don’t say that people don’t have moral values but the corporate mask is definitely weird.
- I’m reminded of post MBA interviews when the prescribed body language and tone was ‘I’m amazingly qualified for this job but hey I don’t really need it.’
- Ever asked a MBA alumni on tips for interview and heard them say “Just be yourself”?
- Companies are now faced with this dilemma too. Brands spend billions on their propaganda (read positioning) but lo and behold the wonders of the web. The party’s almost over. Catch Inc’s story on you’ve been yelped! With Yelp, customer feedback is immediate and all pervasive. To paraphrase ex Forrestor Analyst, Jeremiah.. You can’t hide behind the pro-corporate hyperbole for long. Information asymmetry is on it’s way out…. Open yourself to living life - WYSIWYG.
Discovery of the week. Actually, it’s Feb 2, 2010. I can afford to say, discovery of the decade!
Scenario - it was 20 minutes to a client call. Client wanted it 3 way.. and once again I was shuddering at the thought of paying Rs. 450 to airtel for a conference bridge for 30 mins. So our good friend DB suggested sabsebolo. Signed up in seconds. Immediately you get your permanent telephone bridge, access code and local access numbers for all major metros.
The line was clear. No issues in joining the bridge. You get to hear a message from the sponsor for 5 seconds before the call starts. For this service, I would be willing to hear 5 sponsor messages! I still get nightmares about sales conference calls over the expensive doorsabha conference bridges. Web 2.0 and just works technology.. gotta love it.
Did I forget to mention - it’s free!
Shabaash Sabeer .. this one is seriously hot .. may you make 400 more!
Teaching
It happened sooner in life than I expected. I’ve started teaching. It’s only once a week but nonetheless - it’s probably 10 years earlier than I thought.
The course is on e-marketing and its in the final semester for MBA students. Two sections of 50 students each. Each lecture is about 2 hours long. There’s the prescribed course material which couldn’t possibly be more ‘offline’. So I generally add in snippets of gyaan from real life experience. New experience for me and here are some of the highlights:
- After the first day, wife’s first question “Was one section better than the other?”. I look at her in disbelief “How did you know?”.. Gets back into her Mac with a knowing nod “Always is.. Al-ways is the case”
- Delhi to Gurgaon drive takes half the time at 8:10 in the morning on a Saturday
- Indian students can spend 3-4 hours on the internet every day, but barely a few seconds outside email and orkut
- The next biggest thing on the net is job sites.
- Back benchers seem to make the most interesting contributions to discussions
- Students rattle off definitions of jargon alarmingly well. As soon as I ask for an example.. they’re stumped.
Oh well. I’ve started Bill Gates’ recommended book for teachers Work Hard, Be Nice. Wisely said, the problems of the education sector is rarely about the students and mostly about the capability of the teachers.
