Wanted Entrepreneurs!

Came across StrawberryFrogs'Scott Goodsons' blog entry - ADVERTISING NEEDS MORE ENTREPRENEURSHIP, MORE THAN EVER.

Says he - 1. The sign of a healthy industry is the state of its entrepreneurial spirit. The advertising industry as a whole needs more entrepreneurs. The large conglomerates that control and dominate the industry need more competition.

2. We need more entrepreneurs. A little backbone and a lot of ambition. Because this drives the industry forward. And the more people in the huge conglomerates see indies succeed the more they should think "hey if they can do it, I can do it too"!!

Scott's post made me think what's wrong with the big networks who have a fair share of talent and entrepreneurial spirit.

(a) It's not that the big networks don't have talent, it's just that there is not much incentive to do things differently. Failure is heavily censured. So, the brightest guys are afraid to deviate from the dotted line.

(b) Entrepreneurship grows when there is a small pool of like-minded people with shared belief and passion. Big networks seldom actively allow their brightest minds to pool their talent and energies together. Most often talent is locked in silos that seldom partner each other.

(c) The existing power-structure is so focused on the things that worked in the past and in servicing the current big clients that any new thought/ project/ venture never gets the attention, money and backing to lift-off...

(d) And many a time the best of the CEO's vision gets lost in translation as it has to pass though the fat layer of middle management and mindsets stuck in the past...

But looks like the winds of change are blowing hard:-)

What's your Digital Quotient(DQ)?

Finally, we have our internal planner group-id/water cooler up and running! Last Thursday, I had asked to compile a list of Questions to check the DQ(digital quotient) of the planner group/ the agency executive...

Here's the compiled version...

1. Have you ever led an alternate digital life, such as Second Life? And for the moment ignore the duration of time spent!

2. Have you ever gamed online?

3. Have you ever used, supported or developed any alternate digital community space (such as Cydia/ Installer/ Applications on the iphone)?

4. When was the last time you actually experienced a completely new technological platform?

5. Do you actively seed/ leech from torrent sites? If so what do you seek?

6. Have you ever used your 'digital' world to guide you when you travelled abroad (locations, language translations, eateries, etc)?

7. To what extent have you shifted your bill payments/ ticketing/ movie bookings, etc online?

8. Has the digital world enabled you to work for profit with people whom you've only ever interacted with online?

9. Have you shifted a large part of your high-value purchases online?

10. Have you actively explored the various internet browsers on offer? If so, do you have a personal opinion on the same?

11. Do you read blogs? Which ones?

12. Do you have a personal blog? What's it about?

13. Do you participate in at least one social network? Which one?

14. Have you ever uploaded a video online? What did you use to do it?

15. What's your favorite search engine. Why?

16. Have you ever used an online classified service like craigslist?

17. Besides making phone calls—how else do you use your mobile phone?

18. Have you ever registered a domain name?

19. Do you use social bookmarks or tagging?

20. Do you use a feed reader of some sort? Which one? Why?

And once again these Qs make me realise am still a struggling Digital Immigrant:-)
( And I feel we missed some Qs for the mobile). We need to make a mind-shift from the PC to the mobile real soon...

P.S. DQ image source - derryquay.com

Talking To Mobisumers - some thoughts

I have to speak at the afaqs Mobile Conversations seminar on Friday in Mumbai.

Actually, it's quite telling how the average analog ad agency in Mumbai/ India thinks so little about/around the mobile. And even when we do, we don't really factor in the mobile consumer( a whopping 280mn of us). Most of the time we trim our TV ideas to fit the small screen and 140 characters.

Just putting some WIP thoughts for my talk. Would look forward to any comments/ thoughts, suggestions, case studies, etc. Anything?
I think as an advertiser/ marketer communicating through/ to the mobile must be sensitive to the following:

1. Snackable - All mobile content must be snackable. We are limited by the constraints of 140 characters, a very small screen, a partially attentive consumer and intrusion into her personal space!

2. Shareable - Unlike TV communication/ marketing content on the mobile is shareable...Therefore, mobile creative content must capitalise on this.

3. Low Fat - We must not overload the information content in our marketing messages. Keep it low fat!! Send me stuff in two sms. Just tell me one fact at a time.

4. Personal - The mobile is a personal, often a private medium/ screen. So, beyond a point our TV intrusion tactics will not work/ backfire for brands. It's a one-to-one conversation that we need to have...Don't call me on a Sunday after-noon to sell some God damn credit card even if it's platinum!!

5.Informal - Brand communication on the mobile can/ ought to have an informal tone/ content. Can we have a Friday Dressing code for mobile marketing:-)

6. Anytime - There is no fixed time for the mobile marketing message. We don't have to wait for prime time or cricket matches or saas bahu soaps to start the conversation. And with the extended and 24X7 reach, it puts an added responsibility on marketing...

7. Talk Value - Because the medium is highly shareable, brands can generate a lot of Talk Value if they craft the content right and seed it properly. Consumers can generate a ripple effect of INFLUENCE for our brands...

8. Generation Less - Especially in the Indian context, where the mobile is often shared within the family, we must be sensitive that marketing communication might have to have an across the generation appeal...

That's all for the moment...Do write to me post Friday and will mail the presentation...

Bluetooth, Bollywood Aur Bihar

There is so much happening around. Yesterday, was trying to get our Bluetooth bus-shelter up and running and then even ended up writing an article on Bluetooth Marketing...You can read it here...

This morning after a late start with some simulated fight sequences with my son, Neo came to the office to plug in few hours on my 'New Marketing and Bollywood' book. The blank page is scary...

As I was searching the web, came across Shekhar Kapur's post on Bihar Floods : Do we treat Bihar as a lost cause?

Actually my wife collected a whole lot of clothes and some money for the flood affected. She got in touch with an organisation called DoctorsForYou!!

Somewhere, Shekhar is right. There was more hype around the Arushi murder case in organised media than when 2 million people get affected in perhaps India's worst natural calamity!!

Bhagwan Aaye Bluetooth Se

We are currently doing this blue-tooth enabled promo on bus shelters for our client Cycle Agarbatti in Bombay. Essentially one can download ring-tones, Ganapati wall-paper, the cute Cycle Agarbatti radio spot(it's got a non-commercial ring to it) on the mobile phone...The bus-shelter also plays the aarti tune twice everyday.

Grateful to Suresh, the CEO of Telibrahma and his team for being the technology partner on this...

In isolation, it's not a big deal/ promo but it's good learning to play with technology ...Next is what:-)

P.S. More about this promo here