Media, Communications, Technology & More

Is Mass Text Messaging considered Social Media?

2009-08-04T23:01:00.000-07:00

So who or what defines Social Media? The other day, we had a programme featuring my organization on a leading Business Channel and while we usually do an internal mailing to all, informing our people to catch the event at the mentioned time, this time around, we did something different.

We did a SMS/Text campaign. So, a few hours before the actual time of the show, a text message was sent to all employees' Mobile numbers saying that they could catch the show on so and so channel at the designated time. It's more effective and cheap! There are portals which provide this service and contrary to the thought that it might be expensive, it's actually not so. For the person receiving it, it's more personal and a handy reminder, than a mail which he/she may not have access to at the point.

So you can send a message to say 5000 people across your organization (if you have the database of their Cellular Phone Numbers i.e) at the press of a button from a portal. Isn't this Social Media? I believe it is.

Social Media @ Percept

2009-07-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

I have just experienced the power of Social Media and I think the effectiveness was simply awesome! Percept (the organization where I work) has just completed its 25th year and to commemorate this Silver Jubilee Year, we organized a Business Conclave and a Celebratory Party for our clients and other stakeholders. The pictures and reports that followed provided us a platform to enter into the Social Media domain as an organization with full thrust. While we had earlier made baby steps towards this medium, this was a giant leap to say the least.

Today we are on:
Facebook (290 Members & growing) - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=108622900517
Orkut (27 Members & growing) - http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Profile.aspx?uid=5342323447733366297
YouTube (20 Videos) - http://www.youtube.com/user/perceptlimited#play/all/uploads-all/1/GKp0Y1zqP5w
Twitter - http://twitter.com/perceptemc
Blog - http://perceptlimited.blogspot.com/
Microsite - http://www.percept25.com/

The response has been tremendous, with feedback pouring in from not just internal employees, but also external stakeholders. Incidentally, it has been more effective than any internal communication MESSAGING activity and that in itself is a huge eye-opener. Percept is a young company, so probably, that has got something to do with the success of Social Media. Would it work in another company where you may have a mix of older employees? I guess you would never know unless you try it. And it's worth a try at zero costs!

Tata Nano - Give credit where its due

2009-03-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

The Tata Nano is finally here. A lot of case studies will be out on how the entire concept and launch was marketed and received ample PR over the period till its launch. The PR experts and marketing experts will give their take on how it was strategically marketed and showcased.

But if the PR experts and marketers are honest to themselves, they will agree that it is the product that did it for them. I have often believed that "Content is King" or in this case, "Product is King". So, no matter what the advertising or PR campaign is, it will only help enhance the brand / product to a certain extent. Ultimately if your product itself does not have an inherent USP or fails to live up to its promise, the brand or product will fail; no matter what the advertising or PR expert does.

The one campaign that comes to mind immediately is 'Home Trade' which had a large launch advertising blitz with Hrithik Roshan and Sachin Tendulkar and did the vanishing act within a couple of months. 'Tamarind' is another brand that disappeared from the brand scenario. There have been so many brands that have not lived up to its hype; not because the marketing or PR campaign wasn't good enough, but because the product or brand wasn't just good enough.

So, all you PR and marketing experts out there... let's give credit to the marketing of Tata Nano where its due - The 100-300 odd Engineers who have diligently worked on the product to make Mr Ratan N Tata's dream a reality! They are the unsung heroes.

Gauging the effectiveness of your communication role

2009-03-05T01:43:00.000-08:00

Here's my article that was published in the recent issue of Melcrum's Newsletter - Strategic Communication Management or SCM. The article contains a case in point where we conducted a survey amongst the employees in our organization to check the efficacy of Internal Communications.

Click here to read the complete article http://www.4shared.com/file/90834548/6587969/SCM1327_-_Feb_2009.html

Flip Video

2009-02-23T21:41:00.000-08:00

Here's an easy solution for recording quick videos without using your mobile phone for those low-resolution videos. It's called a Flip Video, and it's making inroads into communications departments around the world. It costs around $149-$179, pocket-sized and are darn easy to handle.

You can shoot videos, edit them and upload them to YouTube or other video sharing sites in lesser time than it would take for you through shooting on a camcorder and transferring.

Pure Digital, a San Francisco-based company, invented and produced the camera.

It's a small pocket size device which you can whip out of your pocket, aim, and push the red button to start recording. Download the video through the USB Port available and transfer to your favourite site. The camera also comes with some simple editing software which enables you to do a basic edit of the video on the camera.

The Flip has already come out with some upgraded versions, so check out the Flip Mino and Flip Ultra before you zero in on your buy.

More details on http://www.theflip.com

Secret societies

2009-02-19T23:31:00.000-08:00

Melcrum's "Delivering Successful Change Communication conference" in Tower Hill, London, witnessed an interesting case study on viral communication by Jakob Wolter and Mattias Moller Jensen.

They talked about the secret societies formed at the pharmaceutical company to spread messages and get employees curious about a change initiative. These three secret societies were categorized as improvers, engagers and branders. They were given badges to wear that signified they were part of something, but if colleagues asked what the badges were for, they were forbidden to tell them, unless they wanted to recruit them into the society.
Both Jakob and Mattias believe that this viral method created more curiosity around the change initiative than any traditional channels, (internal magazine or formal announcement) ever would have. Did it irritate and create a feeling of exclusion? "Yes! but that's exactly what we wanted!" said Jakob. The secret societies continued their work for a year, but were killed when they felt that they might be creating too much hostility among those who weren't in the know - so to speak.

The presentation was a hit with the audience, but many were understandably skeptical about implementing something like this in their more conservative organisations.
Sourced from the melcrumblog

Social Media in Organizations

2009-02-18T01:00:00.000-08:00

Social Media has been in vogue ever since Barack Obama's Presidential Campaign success. Here I take a look at the pros and cons of Social Media from an organizational perspective.

Click on the link below to view the presentation.

http://www.4shared.com/file/88252913/11126a23/Social_Media.html

Has the Reality Television bug bit Indian Media?

2009-02-17T23:24:00.000-08:00

The scars of 26/11 will remain in the minds of the people of Mumbai, or for that matter all Indians, for a long time to come. Mumbai has been a target of various terror attacks in the past few years and it has exposed the vulnerability of the city towards anti-social elements.

I shall keep the nuances of the security, administrative red tapes and the outcry of citizens against the politicians for another day, and will stick to the media coverage that was viewed by millions of viewers across the globe.

There are more than 30 national channels (multi-lingual) that handle news on a regular basis 24x7 in India, with around 5-7channels leading the rat-race. The moment the terror attack began, all the channels were flashing the news as “Breaking News”, which is so much the norm here. Television Channel OB Vans and Reporters were stationed for close to 72 hours until the ordeal was finally over to ensure that they covered the bloodbath and give the latest ‘Breaking News’.

So, you had journalists sticking their microphones into the faces of anxious relatives asking how they felt about their kin who were holed up by terrorists inside the Hotel as hostage or guests; you had journalists hysterically screaming about each grenade blast and firing that took place; you had them showing the gross images of dead bodies being brought out of the Hotel with extreme close-up shots and, of course, you also had them speaking to the guys who were handling the operations to figure the exact plan of action by the Commandos and the Army. Why, they even screened all the air-drops and exact locations of the commandos for some time, until certain channels were asked to stop revealing the positions of the armed forces.

This was reality TV at its very best. And obviously, everybody was glued to the Television.

Time for introspection
Sure, there were positives. Citizens were kept updated minute-by-minute about the latest goings-on at the places of terror attack. But the negatives in comparison were far too many. So much so, that at one point the intelligence and the group heading the operations had to tell the media to tone it down and not reveal and report every move of the operations as they were being relayed and seen via television by the terrorists.

Media has grown to such an extent that information is no longer exclusive and shrouded in a veil of secrecy. It’s available freely to everyone. And while some may believe that there is no such thing as too much information, it is in times like these that too much of information is harmful.

After seeing the media blitzkrieg in India, a friend from London wrote to me, “The way the media handled the London blasts a few years ago was amazing. We got only info we needed - no details of the operations etc. - only travel related and safety info.”

Back home, a small ticker or announcement by a channel about some non-existent firing (based on rumors) that broke out at a few locations spread terror among the already psyched citizens of Mumbai, even as the ordeal continued on Day 2. It led to panic across the city. Offices were being shut, people were running helter-skelter. The channel did apologize later that these were just rumors, but this news could have caused more harm then they could have expected.

A Senior Editor of a Television Channel when asked about irresponsible journalism, claimed that their channel reporters were told 3 clear things – a) Do not speculate on the casualties b) Do not make yourself (the reporter) the news and c) Do not get into hysterical reporting. Incidentally, this very editor was seen doing hysterical reporting based at the studio.

A film maker along with a head of the state toured the Taj post the operations, which was termed by all media as "insensitive" and the head probably might lose his job because of this act. But, incidentally, the same media group also marketed their channel, albeit in a subtle manner through an article claiming high TRP ratings for their channel during the 3 days of mayhem. Doesn’t this reek of hypocrisy?

Reactions Galore
Blogosphere and journalists from the print medium jumped in with their reactions: “Appalling journalism. Absolute blasphemy!”, one wrote, “I am dumbfounded to see journalists break every rule of ethical journalism in reporting the Mumbai mayhem.”

“Watching at least four English news channels surfing from one another, during the last 60 hours of terror strike made me feel a terror of another kind. The terror of assaulting one's mind and sensitivity with cameras, sound bites and non-stop blabbers.” wrote another.

This is in no way to demean the Indian media or question their abilities. To be there for 60 hours reporting from ground zero is no mean task and I truly appreciate and respect this hazardous occupation. But just as in any job, and any other occupation, sometimes we tend to get carried away by the situation or moment. Probably, that’s what happened in this particular instance.

Taking stock
Journalism at its very basic essence must be ethical, informative and factual, but sadly that is not the situation today with the Indian Media. There has been a huge media boom in the last couple of years or so, which saw various channels mushrooming and journalists being given obnoxious pay packages. This meant regular movement of journalists from one channel to the other. “Good”, said a few, “it’s time we received our due”. True. But, in the bargain, we also lost out on quality and the focus turned to TRPs and GRPs, which was the name of the new game. And for this, journalists, reporters and camera-persons would jump and walk over each other to get the latest ‘Breaking News’ or information (whether speculative or not, whether true or not, whether newsworthy or not), because they had to run a channel with content 24x7.

Can the media become more responsible please?
When emotions are running high, the reporters and journalists have a responsibility; a job to do; and that is to keep providing unbiased factual news to the people and let the people judge for themselves. You cannot give your opinionated feedback to the audiences.

Democracy and Freedom allow us to express our opinions, but if this freedom is not exercised responsibly we could create a very dangerous scenario for ourselves as a society. When competition increases, the game is played on a level where the line between good journalism and TRP journalism gets blurred.

The way ahead
The media defends saying, ‘Don’t shoot the messenger’ or ‘Hey, this is what the audience wants’. All we ask is - can the messenger be less dramatic and sensational please? By being so, they create high emotions in an already emotionalist society. And this emotion, if not channelized, could also work against the civic society.

There is a boom and then there is a consolidation phase always. India witnessed a media boom post 2002-03 when the Indian economy was on a roll. With the recessionary scenario and low sentiments across the globe, probably, the consolidation phase could begin sooner than later. But this will also ensure that it separates the wheat from the chaff. And it’s about time that happens.