Hair Raising Story of a Blogger

Hair Raising Story of a Blogger

I specially created this picture to appeal to Dove to make Hair Care Products which are easy to use and can help cure male alopecia. And this picture was dedicated to the Dove All Women's Blogger Meet #DoveSpa, where men are not invited :-).

Jokes aside, two of my friends Vineet Rajan and Renie Revin have dedicated their heart and soul to build a brilliant community of Indian Bloggers i.e. Indiblogger.in.  This post was to talk to fellow marketers out there who have run blogger contests and get some feedback on how well it works?

What objectives do you want to achieve from such contests or offline connect programs?
What challenges you see?
What contributes to success?

Any expectation on outcomes of such activities?

Flash Apps on Android vs iPhone OS x vs Maemo

There is a big Mobile OS battle running out their. With every mobile phone manufacturers and software providers doing all they can to bring the fastest, sexiest and coolest mobile device out for the consumers. A lot has to do with applications or apps. built around these OS platforms which makes the platform look cool and involves more people and gets them excited.

Google Android Phone - Adobe on 7th January updated about the Flash 10.1 BETA support on google android phone.
Watch Video here

It's a significant advancement that the open handset alliance can rejoice this year and pass on the benefits to the consumers and break Apple's App Store monopoly.

iPhone OSx - Presently, any application built in flash can not directly run on iPhone. And off-course the Jesus Phone has millions of fan following. However, iPhone doesn't allow and doesn't intend to allow to run any flash app to work on iPhone directly, you need to develop it with the MAC SDK provided by Apple. This meant that the app has to be available through the Apple's store and Apple gets 30% of the revenue share in each app download. Sifting through pages on adobe's site, when you land upon adobe flash's support for iPhone, you will be surprised to see that * which says: Delivery through the App Store requires participation in the iPhone Developer Program and approval of the application by Apple. meaning 30% revenue share remains.

However, with Google and HTC and other partners of the open handset alliance coming together and launching the google android based phones and adobe extending their support to them, developers can now easily build content or port existing apps to the mobile devices. Which in a way can hurt Apple's App store downloads. Eg: If I am presently hosting my app at any website then I can just promote that link through Admob and other mobile ad service providers like that and get people to download apps directly without bringing Apple in the middle. 2010 will be a significant growth year for apps on open source and growth of google android and hardware devices based on it.

Nokia Maemo - Interestingly the OPEN source Vs BOX race has more contenders, the big-weight in race, yes the world's biggest manufacturer of mobile phones, nokia, is pushing it's agenda with it's ovi app store and Maemo OS, their linux based open source launch is a solid step towards it. They have been supporting flash from long ago, however, their smart phones just didn't pickup. With Nokia N900 device running on Maemo 5, they wish to change this. Their recent announcement of BETA launch of Qt port for Maemo 5 on 19th Jan which will enhance developers to develop cross-platform applications and GUI.

Hoping for a more OPEN environment in future.

Online Games Are Recession Proof

Here is an interesting article from Christopher Cummings of Dailygame.net

All year long, journalists, bloggers and various analystsYes! No! Maybe! have wondered, "Are games recession-proof?" The consensus seems to be:

DFC analyst David Cole puts it best, noting that the fizzling economy doesn't appear to be affecting game software sales. "Consumer spending on software is at record levels," he says, "and the game business seems to actually benefit from a recession, because games are a relatively cheap form of home entertainment."

If you go back to the Depression, obviously times were tough -- even tougher than they are today -- but people still needed to be entertained. They needed to escape their everyday lives and forget their problems. So what did they do? They went to the movies, read books, listened to the radio, played card and board games. They did everything we do today, and they had to do it cheaply, because money was in short supply.

Know something that's not in short supply? Computers. I know, I know, you probably don't even consider the PC a viable game platform since everyone knows the PC as a gaming platform is dead. Except, it's really not -- and that could be gaming's great salvation during these tough economic times.

The PC Gaming Alliance estimates there are 263 million online PC gamers. And according to DFC's new Online Game Market Forecasts report, PC online game revenue alone passed $7 billion in 2007, not including retail sales. Total PC game revenue is expected to reach $19 billion by 2013. Those are impressive figures for a "dead" gaming platform, and they add an exciting wrinkle to the question of games being recession-proof.

As times toughen economically, will consumers continue to shell out $30 to $60 for a console game? Will they back off the higher-priced games in favor of budget-oriented Wii titles? Or will they fire up the PC to play free casual games online?

Of course, there's a very real danger that shrinking consumer spending will affect advertising buys, which will negatively impact the free casual games market, which is largely ad-supported. However, while ad spending may slide in TV and the offline world, analysts predict inexpensive media types, such as the Internet, will weather this economic downturn relatively well. So maybe free online games aren't such a bad place to be, for consumers or for game developers/publishers.

My money, as always, is on online bingo. If you have a few minutes to kill, why wouldn't you go online, play a free game that you know with people you like, and try to win a few bucks? As gas prices rocket up and down, and the stock market sits and spins, family night with Dickie the Bingo Caller looks better and better.

Games24x7.com launches New Jhatpat Online Tournaments for Real Cash prizes!

Exciting new Indian online games group www.games24x7.com has announced the launch of its New Jhatpat Tournaments in Online Rummy and Online Chess. Though fairly innovative online gaming models have made their way into the Indian market in recent times, there is none yet to match the latest entrant www.games24x7.com.

www.games24x7.com offers exciting fun filled skill based competitive gaming. They have added two very unique dimensions to the space of competitive gaming. First, all their games are played in a knock-out tournament format adding a level of excitement to online games not yet seen in the Indian space. Even more significantly, they are the first and only online games site to offer and payout real cash prizes to their tournament winners.

Recently they launched an online real cash tournament campaign called Jhatpat Tournaments. These tournaments were launched with a Jhatpat Tournament funny teaser Video, 1 the day before and received an over whelming response.

Details about JHATPAT Tournaments – With these tournaments, www.games24x7.com have launched what can only be summarized as a “cash prizes to all” campaign. Jhatpat tournaments are fun and fast-paced competitions with real cash prizes paid out and No Entry Fee! Tournaments are offered on a daily basis at pre-fixed times with registration for these tournaments often closing in seconds. There are over 100 Jhatpat Tournaments a month with up to Rs. 30000 in cash prizes offered every week.

At www.games24x7.com, in addition to cash prizes in the daily free online rummy tournaments and free online chess tournaments, top players qualify for the weekend MEGA Tournament with Rs 10000/- in cash prizes. In sum, over Rs. 1.5 Lakhs is being given out in cash prizes in the Jhatpat tournaments and the best part is there are no entry fees! Keep on competing! Keep on Winning real cash prizes!1 m

- End -

Games24x7.com is an Indian online games start-up, founded by a group of entrepreneurs from IIT and IIM backgrounds, who have seen both eastern and western cultures are bringing the competitive spirit to win cash prizes in local Indian games to the masses. Games24x7.com is India’s first and only online games company to run daily skill based competitive tournaments with real cash prizes in online rummy and online chess.

Why India is stiill a Developing Nation?

Modern twist to an old tale

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

Indian Version:

The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
-Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.
-Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
-Mayawati states this as `injustice' done on Minorities.
-Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.
-The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance) .
-Opposition MPs stage a walkout. Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.
-CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.
-Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
-Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the ' Prevention of Terrorism Against grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.
-Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation ' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.

The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it ' A Triumph of Justice'.
Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice '.
CPM calls it the ' Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden '
Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.

Many years later...

The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley, 100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India.
AND.... As a result of losing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the grasshoppers,
India is still a developing country!!!

WOW Google Chrome - Why don't Google Make Operating System?

WOW Google Chrome - Wonderful | Ossum | Wooing

When Google gets down to making Internet Experience better there is nothing which compares to their expertise in making MOST user friendly applications. One of the biggest steps after capturing the majority search engine space, yesterday Google launched it's WOW browser - Google Chrome. The way their marketing team built an entire Google Chrome storybook of How the entire Google Chrome browser came into existence is Ossum. The FRESH Technological approach adopted in Google Chrome has brought out some Wonderful features.

Google's official blog reported on 1st September about the launch of the Google Chrome story book and other details about the browser and now Google Chrome is available for download.

Right now in it's BETA stage, tweaking features is mostly restricted. Very few tweaks are available to users till now. Also, auto clear-up of private data once you exit from browser is not available. There is an interesting feature of Incognito Browsing which ensures that webpages that you open and files you downloaded won't be logged in your browsing and download histories; all new cookies are deleted after you close the incognito window.

Search while you type URLs - Google brought it's search prowess to google chrome by providing you the feature of showing popular site results and other historical data from your search tracks while you type a url.

Application Shortcuts, Dynamic Tabs, Favourite web pages in quick launch, Crash Control and Safe Browsing are some additional features added and surely they will WOO the new and existing users of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Safari.

Technically one of the biggest advancements is Handling each Tab as an individual process/thread which helps you in case one of the process is non responsive. Sandboxing and Crash control really ensures smooth working of the browser application. 

One thing which I monitored was that the CPU usage and Physical memory usage was a little higher than firefox / IE while running multiple tabs in Chorme as the number of Application is ONE but the number of processes were equal to the number of tabs so more load on the processor and memory.

Let's see if the full version of Google Chrome really WOWs the audience or not....And well this also makes me Wondering, WHY Don't GOOGLE make an Operating System?

I have moved on...

I know, it's been long since I wrote and there are lot of things which have happened in the last month. Its been over an year I joined naseba in 2007. I joined naseba as the marketing manager and kept growing. I Became the Sr. marketing manager in a months time (much credit to my ex-colleague Zafar Siddiqui who left naseba quickly and now works with Honeywell in Dubai) and moved on to become the marketing director within 4 months of joining. While at naseba I showed some good results (oh BTW marketing metrics is BS @ naseba)... I am talking about revenue here...And now I have moved on from naseba.

At naseba, my job was to setup a marketing department. Setting up a marketing department can be a daunting task, especially when you are in a company which survives and earns its bread and butter only through sales (sales people who are hard-wired to sell to a the CXO level audience), it's a strenuous job. Phew! Your a$$ is on fire most of the time but then it makes you a seasoned salesman and I guess you can crack any sales interview or negotiation anywhere across the globe (or this is what everyone thinks). And yes, I was supposed to set up a marketing machine which generates quality leads for the sales guys to close and generate continuous revenue.


Well this brings me to a point on - How to sell to CXO level audience? Which I will discuss sometime else but now coming back to the topic, I have moved on....

In the last yr, I believe I have learnt a lot...

• How to establish a Marketing Machine
• Getting to work with Multiple Cultures
• Getting Management Buy-in
• How to influence people and get things done (making it happen)
• Email and Online media - the new marketing mix
• How to manage people (especially when they are older than you)
• How to build relationships and how to break them
• Grass is NOT greener on the other side
• Consistency is a choice

Well, the one thing in my life which is constant is my Passion and Consistent Love for marketing. Many people are of the opinion that my passion for marketing is insane but I feel that's the depth of my passion which keeps me awake and kicking day and night.

I was your regular guy out of the school who thought he is one day going to be a big time engineer in some power plant as this is what was told to him at that point in his life. You can blame the Indian education system and partly the protective nature of parents in India for drilling these engineering/medical dreams in children. Till the time the children reach their graduate school, they have not made any choice of what they want to become in their life. It's all driven by someone else's wish. This simple guy who passed out of college after doing his graduation in Engineering, realized during the course of 4 year's that he is made for something else. Off-course, realizing what you want to achieve is one thing and realizing what you can achieve with what you are good at is completely another ball game.

But the self realization of your skills is something which takes you a long way. Not only do you get a clear focus in life but, you aslo get to learn and work towards your goal faster and in a more focussed way. It brings a purpose to life and helps you strive harder to achieve success. Who would have thought a small time software engineer from Wipro Technologies would aim to become a techno-marketing guru and would actually keep getting closer to it in this much time.

Now, I have moved on from naseba and joined a small start-up in the suburbs of Mumbai. It's called www.games24x7.com . Yes, as the name suggests it's a online gaming company. It's a humble start-up with a simple goal - of providing a platform to play online, Games like Chess, Rummy etc.

A new start, a new effort, a new business! Wish me luck.

SEC on Blogging - It's a Open Blogger's World - CEOs Blog More!

According to BNET, the new SC regulations on Blogging clears it all up for corporate bloggers. Let’s say you’re the CEO of a company. A competitor or disgruntled ex-employee posts nasty and inaccurate information on a blog that your company website operates. Are you under any regulatory obligation to correct it?

No, you are not. At least that’s what the staff of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission said it is recommending today in a draft of new rules designed to encourage more corporate use of websites to disclose required information.

What’s more, the new rules could do much to clear up confusion over meeting the Full Disclosure (FD) rules of the SEC regarding Internet use.

At an SEC meeting today where the rules won a 4-0 vote to go to the next level, new measures were explained that could allow companies to use their websites and blogs to meet requirements under the FD rules. Under certain conditions, such electronic media can be the sole means of disclosure.

A few other measures in the proposal:

* The information on the blog or company Web page does not have to be in “a format comparable to paper-based information” unless the SEC explicitly requires it.
* Hyperlinks to other sites can be used provided that the company explain their relevance.
* Information disclosed on the Web is not generally subject to under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (of course, the company must still follow SOX for other forms of financial disclosure and attestation.).
* Companies are responsible for what they put out on their Web pages or blogs but are under no obligation to correct inaccurate or misleading information that outsiders post.

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox says he sees the new Web-based rules as a way to make for more efficient and more creative ways to inform potential investors about a firm. Cox argues that using the Web can cut disclosure costs for companies while improving their communication with shareholders.

Indeed, some tech-oriented CEOs, such as Jonathan Schwartz of Sun Microsystems, have complained that they want to communicate with investors and customers on blogs but feel they have to undergo tedious consultations with their lawyers because SEC guidance is so unclear.

Maybe this new round of rules will clear up those concerns. For more info, check a story by IrWebreport and an SEC statement. Full issuance of the rules may occur in about six months.

Categories: Technology, Regulation

Tags: Web, SEC, Blog, Rule, Blogging, Channel Management, Internet, Marketing, Peter Galuszka

Chetan Bhagat - Spark Keep it Shining Speech! - What about the ACTION?

Summary: I liked the speech given by Chetan and they way he showed the 4 thunderstorms of disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation trying to thwart you. What I couldn't notice in his speech was the Umbrella or the Rain Coat to save yourself from these thunderstroms: THE ACTION. 

"Sincere ACTION is the Umbrella that can help you brave the thunderstrom!"

-Sachin Uppal, 1st August 2008

I was reading Chetan Bhagat's speech at the inaugural function of Symbiosis College in Pune, India. He spoke about a simple concept that keeps people kicking and striving to reach higher success. He likes calling it Spark, and urges to keep that Spark Shining. It is nothing but your will power and your passion to achieve something more in life and your continuous drive to reach it. 

Download the complete Speech in a PDF format along with comments here.

In my life I have learnt that this spark comes to you if you are passionate about something and that passion is driven from your goals. If you set your goals (short term and long term) you always have a direction and you can measure and strive harder to achieve the same. Some time back I wrote about Goal Setting and how it's important to achieve and bring a direction to your life.

When I look around I see a lot of talented people and see a lot of them with new ideas but what I fail to see is people taking action to fulfill their dreams. Having a long term and short term goal helps you get focused in your life and you can actually achieve what you have set out to achieve in your dream.

I liked the speech given by Chetan and they way he showed the 4 thunderstorms of disappointment, frustration, unfairness and isolation trying to thwart you. However, while saying that don't take life too seriously, instead sincerely, what he missed out was a BIG point: ACTION. 

What differentiates people from being Great and not good, is ACTION. Having dreams, living life sincerely and keeping yourself focused towards your goals need ACTION. Not taking life seriously shouldn't make you complacent and shouldn't make you lack in Action. Action comes to you from your passion. There are thousands of people out there who like to talk about doing something great, but how many take action to achieve it? These days with the competition increasing at such a fast pace, you are going to face one or more of these 4 thunderstorms.

Have you ever thought what's going to differentiate you? 

To SUM it up in a sentence:

"Sincere ACTION is the Umbrella that can help you brave the thunderstroms!"

For many people reading this the obvious question would be - How do you do that?

- Set up your goals.
- Be realistic or upgrade your self.
- Believe in yourself.
- Follow some dicipline.
- Breakdown your goals in small milestones.
- Congratulate yourself on achieving milestones. (get yourself a pair of new shoes, a tie, a watch, a perfume or whatever you think you like)
- Bring your passion to everything that you DO.
- Let your passion Permeate  amongst the people around you.
- Show the world that you are not just about the Talk, but you prove it with your small Actions.
- Small steps go a long way to achieve a goal.
- Influence people in believing your goals.
- Ask for help (don't feel ashamed).
- Give help - It's a 2-way road.
- Follow- Ethics and Integrity.
- LIVE your dream and don't give up. Even at a failure learn and stand up again and give your "passionate best shot".

Enough of talking. Let's DO!

Bangalore Bomb Blast - 5 bombs went off

I was just passing by the area where apparently some bomb blast happened. Even though I didn't see any scene of actual bomb exploding there, but I have heard there has been a series of bomb blasts in Bangalore upto 5 of them in multiple places.

The scene was busy with people getting anxious and asking what's going on, however I have not see anything in particular. It was all filled with Police men trying to sort out the chaotic traffic and managing people.

Bangalore has been a high growth city for past 10 years now and has been peaceful. However, it seems like many people do not want that to happen. It can also be a political unrest or some kind of terrorist act. However, in the past couple of years this has been the 3rd biggest incident of Bomb blast in a city like Bangalore.

I wonder sometimes, what leads the people to do something as heinous as this? What do they get personally out of this?

I am sure like Mumbai ... Bangalore is becoming resilient to such instances and will surely come back to normalcy within a day!

A Big Thanks to Google! - Google Adds Search Volume Data to Adwords

A long awaited but a welcome step from Google when it added the search volume data for keywords and Ad placement flexibility to the Adwords platform.

Some time back I wrote about Google's Hogwash on how auctions set prices, and my key argument was that there was no campaign data available. However, with the below mentioned new tools and features added by Google, it proved again that they are the Best and the most pioneering and innovative Search company who really listens to customer's demands and deliver on the same. Hats off to you guys!

Also, it added Keywords and placements -- together!

Now, both keywords and placements can be targeted in all AdWords campaigns. We can now use both to get better control and pricing power on the content network. (this was a big disadvantage earlier)

What can you do with keywords plus placements?

• Bid more or less for specific placements. Let contextual targeting with keywords place your ads across the content network, while you set placement bids for sites that have a special value for you.

  Selling soccer shoes? You might bid $1.00 for clicks from any content network pages that match your keywords, but $2.00 when those clicks come from a soccer fan site that's converted well for you in the past.

• Show your ad only when both keywords and placements match. You'll get the benefits of keyword targeting while also limiting the places where your ad can appear.

  For instance, set your campaign to appear only on your favorite soccer fan site, and only when the site content matches the keyword soccer shoes. You may see less traffic, but AdWords contextual matching will help make sure your placement pages are highly targeted.

Instead of creating separate campaigns for keywords and placements, you can now include both in any campaign. All ad groups now have tabs for both keywords and placements, and the two can work together to target your ads on the content network.

Keyword-Targeted Placement-Targeted Online

Here's an example: You might target the keyword roses and the placement *www.example.com*. You can let the keyword roses display your ad across the content network, and use placements to raise your bid whenever roses triggers your ad on www.example.com. Or you can choose to have your ad appear only on www.example.com, and only when its content is a match for roses.

Pick Keywords

Pick Placements Google finds pages that meet both criteria

Well, what pleases me most is the way Technology and Marketing have got married these days. It's the nupital knot which any Techno-Marketing professional would want to get into. And additionally what makes me feel elated is the way companies are learning from there customers and prospects through social media and using that feedback to come up with better product features and solutions for the customers.

A big thanks to google again!

www.Scour.com - World's own Web 2.0 Social Search Engine

www.Scour.com - World's own Web 2.0 Social Search Engine

How is scour different from anything else? What is a social search engine anyways? Can Scour - Social Search Engine gives Google, Yahoo, Microsoft a run for their money?

How is Scour different from the rest?

Scour - the social search engine, is a reward based search engine which brings in the search results from Google, Yahoo! and MSN, all together with their rankings. You can comment and vote for the search results that you get and you don't have to switch to various search engines to get the best results which are most relevant for you.

The huge opportunity this social search engine brings is to involve the individual searching into the revenue sharing model. This incentivising technique attracts the individual to come back and search on scour and nothing else.

Social search, I guess, was the only phenomenon left in the Web 2.0 space which was started by the social search engine AfterVote and is now known as Scour! Dan Yomtobian, CEO, Scour.com explains the concept behind Scour in the Video below:



What is Social Search?

Social search or a social search engine is a type of web search method that determines the relevance of search results by considering the interactions or contributions of users. When applied to web search this user-based approach to relevance is in contrast to establish algorithmic or machine-based approaches where relevance is determined by analyzing the text of each document or the link structure of the documents.

Social search takes many forms, ranging from simple shared bookmarks or tagging of content with descriptive labels to more sophisticated approaches that combine human intelligence with computer algorithms.

The Search experience revolves around the outcome of collaborative harvesting, collaborative directories, tag engines, social ranking, commenting on bookmarks, news, images, videos, podcasts and other web pages. Examples of user input include social bookmarking or direct interaction with the search results such as promoting or demoting results the users feel are more or less relevant to their query.

Some time ago AfterVote was acquired by ABCSearch, one of the largest pay-per-click search companies in the world. As a result of this acquisition, the product has a much better backing for growth and quality and its offerings are now bigger and better with this move. The original core development team from Thinking Big is still deeply involved in Scour, but it has more resources, better servers and a richer brain trust to improve the quality and accuracy of daily information search needs.

So what would be the next step? Will Google, Yahoo and Microsoft acquire stake in this company? I guess considering MS couldn't lay its hands on Yahoo!, Scour's popularity might attract MS to consider a stake.

Also, interestingly the commenting and voting attracts the individuals to look around which can also mean that click/ad revenue Scour search engine might be better. This clearly means that advertising dollars would start flowing in for Scour.

However, monetizing commenting is not that great an idea as it would lead to spam comments and would eventually be of no use to anyone. If there is no moderation / trusted member validating comments, it would lead to disruption of search results which will go against the pure reason of existence of Scour - ie Search.

As of now I am starting Scouring but the real fate of Scour needs to be determined in the coming years!

Digital Marketing in India - Agencies or In - House?

I would be publishing the blog post on "Digital Marketing in India" - Agencies or In-House where I am going to profile some Top Digital or Interactive marketing Agencies in India.

To get your organization profiled, send me a mail.

With this I will also be publishing the results of the in-house survey on "Internet marketing challenges and opportunities – 2008". To be part of this Global Survey...Click Here.

naseba Launch Party - The biggest launch party of 2008

Global Business Information and Strategic Events company, naseba, headquartered in Monaco is hosting 2008's biggest launch party in Bangalore. Official Radio Partner Radio Indigo!

Date: 14th June 2008
Time: 8 PM Onwards
Venue: Chancery Pavilion, Residency Road, Ballroom

Featuring: DJ TUHIN / DJ NASH/ MC DHIVIK

The Ballroom at the Chancery Pavilion (Residency Road) is all set to explode again this Saturday Night with 2 huge forces coming together under one roof for the 1st time... Dj Tuhin & Dj Nash!

Mr. Brute Force (DJ Tuhin) headlining the night with a signature set of wall-bouncing energi-tech... Need I say more??

Our own DJ Nash, is gonna set the mood for a killer Saturday Night, with red hot Bouncy, Clubby house tracks set to turn the dance floors crazy!!

MC Dhivik is there to keep the energy levels high as usual.

The full ballroom is going to be opened for the first time - with mind blowing sound, lights & huge lasers beaming across!

ONE PARTY U CANT AFFORD TO MISS!!!

Event managed by Rapsody Inc. For guest list and details, contact 9886514452 or 9342566874.

naseba Corporate Video!

PR 2.0 – PR + Hiring - naseba Hired LIVE on Radio Indigo jobs@naseba.com

I hear a lot about PR2.0 and how conversations are making things happen and then social media and blogs are driving the new sales and marketing strategies, here is something that I would like to call the PR2.0 LIVE Experience, a PR 2.0 strategy!

naseba, a French MNC, did a big PR campaign with Radio Indigo 91.9 FM where they initiated and accomplished a hiring campaign for the first time in India to hire their sales executives LIVE ON AIR.

I wrote earlier about the stress interview which Scott Ragsdale, CEO of naseba is going to take LIVE ON AIR and that’s exactly what happened this Friday, 30th May 2008 when the history was made by recruiting LIVE ON AIR on a radio channel first time in India.

This can turn out to be a successful PR strategy for any organization to enhance their presence and support their recruitment drives. naseba started a recruitment campaign with promoting a LIVE stress interview on Radio Indigo, where Scott Ragsdale the CEO of naseba hires live on air.

2 weeks of teaser and live campaigns on AIR just added the appropriate Indian spice in the whole recruitment drive and candidates resumes started flowing in and Global Chief Marketing and CRM Director of naseba, Liam Findlay introduced the company and culture to the listeners and finally the team short listed few candidates. Dhruva and Nagarjuna the final short listed candidates were interviewed LIVE on air and they went through the stress interview and both of them emerged as the winning candidates!

While companies and individuals worldwide are talking about what they are going to do, naseba is just making it happen!

Which blogs do Journalists read?

Found an interesting article on BNET regarding which blogs do Journalists read...

Wondering which blogs journalists themselves find most valuable? Brodeur Strategies and Marketwire did an online survey. “We did the study because we wanted to help clients better understand the interplay between online news activity and journalism. We know who the traditional reporters are that cover our clients’ industries and beats but we need to better understand where they’re getting their information online.” (Jerry Johnson, executive vice president, Brodeur Strategies)
Here are the results:
Lifestyle journalists:
TMZ
Perez Hilton
MSN Lifestyle
AOL Living
Political journalists:
Huffington Post
Real Clear Politics
Talking Points Memo
Daily Kos
Tech journalists:
Engadget
Gizmodo
Boing Boing
Arstechnica
GigaOm
Travel journalists:
Tripadvisor
Frommers
Forbes Traveler
Travel Channel
Yahoo! Travel
Healthcare journalists:
NIH
WebMD
Mayo Clinic
MSN Health

jobs@naseba.com naseba is hiring LIVE ON AIR on Radio Indigo 91.9 FM

Monaco based Multinational, naseba, is hiring LIVE ON AIR for the first time in the history of Indian Radio. Today morning Mr. Liam Findlay, Global Chief Marketing Director was in interview with Morning RJ Ayesha Dsouza and introduced naseba in Bangalore, LIVE ON AIR on Radio Indigo 91.9 FM and talked about the culture of the company and what naseba does. Also, he gave some tips on how to handle stress interviews and how Scott Ragsdale, CEO of naseba will fly down from Monaco to Bangalore to hire sales people LIVE on Radio Indigo in a stress interview.

To learn more about jobs at naseba visit http://www.naseba.com/index.html?pagecode=careers to get some tips on how to handle stress interview visit this previous entry of mine. To apply for jobs at naseba send your resumes to jobs@naseba.com.

What Does naseba do?
naseba is a business information company. naseba produces, promotes and hosts strategic business platforms using a conference, congress, expo or forum format - depending on the market - with the ultimate focus on knowledge expansion, networking but most importantly maximizing deal-making opportunities for all our executive clients.

naseba is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange.

naseba now has 10 streams of international products:
- CXO Strategies
- Healthcare
- Human Services
- Infrastructure
- Transport & Logistics
- Energy & Environment
- Travel & Tourism
- Investment
- FIS
- Telecoms & IT

Some more TIPS to handle the interview and what are we looking for:
-We are looking for Sharp people who are aggressive and have a “Make It Happen Attitude”
-They should dress sharply … here are some sharp business dressing tips on to what to do and how to dress in a professional atmosphere.
-They shouldn’t take NO as an answer.
-They should be very confident and should be able to talk to the CEO level audience over the phone.
-Should be quick thinkers on their feet and should be crisp, clear and to the point.

I will be updating this section with more tips and points soon…keep posting your comments!

Radio Indigo 91.9 FM + naseba (French MNC) hiring LIVE on AIR – in a Stress Interview

First Time ever in history of Indian Radio, Radio Indigo 91.9 FM and naseba, a French MNC would be hiring its sales consultants LIVE On-Air. To accomplish this task, the CEO of the company Scott Ragsdale is flying down from Monaco to hire the person LIVE through a stress interview ON-AIR on Radio Indigo 91.9 FM, the colour of music.

My team member Subhashree, who initiated this idea, is making it happen. She comes from a diverse background of advertising and production in radio. This special recruitment drive will not just be a job opportunity for candidates but this is a brilliant opportunity for all the listeners of the channel to learn how to handle a stress interview and how to communicate with the CEO of a company in an interview.

In a stress interview generally the interviewers are trying to assess how quickly you can think of your feet? Can you handle situations which you didn’t expect can happen? They want to see your attitude and analytical skills even in a time of shock or stress. Here are TOP 5 tips on how to manage a stress interview.
1) Leave your fear @ home – People who are fearless are the most confident people. If you are confident, you can handle awkward situations as you would be able to take out quick 2 secs to think and then respond to the situation. If you are fearless, it doesn’t matter who is interviewing you, the hiring manager or the CEO. Know your basics well and you would sail well.

2) The interviewer wants to hire you – As much as it’s your prerogative to get the job, interviewer also wants to hire the best candidate. So your confidence, your ability to think creatively and your response would only help the interviewer to decide on hiring you or not. Keeping the calm in your head and answering questions to the best of knowledge would be helpful.

3) Aggression – Sometimes companies are looking for aggression through a stress interview as this might be for a sales position. You need to be aggressive though aggression shouldn’t let you loose your cool. As tomorrow, when you are at a customer’s office, you need to aggressively push your product/service but you can’t misbehave with them.

4) Ask counter questions – If you think you are being trapped in a “Situational case” or a “Ridiculous Puzzle”, ask questions. You can start analyzing the situation in your mind and at any roadblock ask questions. This was you will be very clear on what you have to answer also you will get time to think about the same.

5) Mannerism – Sometimes strange mannerisms are shown by the interviewer, its just to push you in a corner or distract you from thinking. You can simply ignore such mannerisms and continue to focus. Don’t get bogged down by loud voce, shouting or dirty stares etc. Remember the tip 1 – Leave your fear @ home, that’s it!

Post your experiences earlier with stress interviews or your ideas or comments on this innovative recruitment drive LIVE ON-AIR on Radio...

Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) Route Map and Guide

After all the drama and to and fro amongst the people, governement and BIAL authoritites, Bangalore International Airport BIAL will be operational from today onwards. yet there is no final decision on the HAL airport.
How to reach the new BIAL airport? What all facilities are available at the new bangalore airport? How far is the new airport from the city’s centre? Here is your guide to the BIAL airport.
Download the Passenger Information document here.
Download the Easy access guide here.
Download the shuttle schedule here.
Download the route map here.
Download the Bangalore International Airport Layout.
Let’s see how the things turn out now. Obviously you would notice that there are a lot of services added in the BIAL airport lounges etc, but how much is an average traveler willing to shell out, remains the question?

Scott Ragsdale's - Black Gucci Loafer - Selling the Benefits and Brand Power

I was reading Scott Ragsdale’s blog, CEO of naseba, the entry on Black Gucci Loafer, on how to sell people on the benefits and make them buy a service or product at a premium. I am very impressed by the way he gives his sales pitch to motivate the sales team to sell more. Here is a small story from my experience to re-enforce the fact on what Scott has written.

In my previous job at one of the largest India IT MNCs, I was the marketing manager and I was responsible for launching a new Software Product in the SME market in India. India is a very price sensitive market and people are not ready to pay big amounts. However, if sold well on the concept and brand, people do buy it.

So after launching the product and doing marketing activities, I launched a special offer of 50% off on the initial price. Obviously, the price was marked up according to competitor’s price and there was an actual profit margin kept. In the first 2 weeks none of the sales guys sold it. They all thought it’s an expensive product and won’t sell.

I got pissed off and I asked my manager, that I am going to prove them wrong and sell it at a higher margin + I am going to get an annual maintenance contract (25% of the actual cost of product) also signed in a month’s time.

Within 1 week of scanning the market I found 2 potential opportunities and I went and pitched and showed the product demo and closed the deal much higher than the actual price and also sold the AMC for 25% of the product cost.

My simple pitch was that it is exclusive as the service provided is unmatchable and the convenience that the hospital (buying it) is much higher than any of the cheap competitor’s product. The brand name and the over all packaging along with the smooth sales pitch highlighting the benefits made me sell and I won the “Operation Market Storm – BDM of the Month”.

This is the power of branding, sales and individual’s ability all put together to build a strong sales organization.