PART 2: What's in a status message?

Taking cue from my previous post on this topic, I have something more (interesting or not, that is for you to decide!) to share...

Technology evolves continuously or rather simultaneously is a fact all regular or frequent online users may have experienced first hand at some point in their surfing lives. Shortly after I posted my part 1, I came across 'Kwippy': Twitter + IM Status blogger!

One of the features is that when a friend on your messenger updates his status, you are notified. So not only one can express themselves, but also make sure their friends read it,with undivided attention... all through a simple status message.

Read more about it on this link: 'Kwippy'

And finally to actually answer my own question of what is in a status message?
Well, my opinion is that if interpreted in context, it could lead to an insight about that person or if many are taken together, a community, a generation and may be something even larger.

Keeping advantages to marketers aside, browsing through status is also hobby of a few ( few because I am sure many deny it!) friends on that messenger list. Even reading scrapbooks of other users, to skimming through news feeds or notifications have hints of our 'Take-a-peek' nature.

It is quite ironic...the web grants you anonymity to do and keep tab of so many things and people as well and it, at the same time, grants you the power to express 'you as yourself' to the world...even with one status message!

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What's in a status message?

With the craze of social communication and networking catching faster than fuel catches fire, finding people who disagree with my view that the internet governs a large share of time for these socially active people, will be difficult.

This medium has undoubtedly become a treasure chest of consumer insights and a window of candid self-expressions with vivid descriptions of emotions ranging from exasperation, indifference, chagrin, disappointment, heartbreak, ecstacy, confusion, nostalgia or even the state of 'randomness'.

And starting from blogs to posting comments to writing on scrapbooks and walls, users are celebrating their present with a dialogue box that gives them 140 'characters' to verbalize their mental, physical, social, geographical state of mind--active or passive, potential or kinetic --WHICHEVER!

But before twitter came under the hype-light (its being written about on every other website or article or blog ), there was one more such avenue, which didn't have 'followers' or a special portal --the messenger: be it MSN or yahoo or gtalk~
the status message space and
the display pic
both give you the same 'freedom of expression.' or should i say, 'kingdom of expression': quotes, links, visible / invisible, vacation pics, cropped pics, random pics, just-like-that pics, movie dialogues, poems and the list goes on...

Reminds me of Shakespeare's "What's in a name?" Today, we can ask, "What's in a status message?"

Do share weird / funny things u may have posted as ur status msg.

SoM

 

SoM: Social Media
SoM: Share of Mind

Now-a-days, Social media, Barack Obama are spoken in the same breath. That explains the Share of Mind tools of social media have created for the 44th US president. Twitter, You tube, Facebook.

The medium that is meant to generate a grapevine on the web or plant a 'virus' to spread the WOM has become the talk of the town: yes, if you know what I am getting at--social media meant to create a share of mind for other brands has created one for itself...it has become a brand in its own.

HOWEVER, I am debating with myself which came first: the chicken or the egg?
What happened first: the outburst of Social Media and the way it grabbed share of mind of internet users all over the world? or Did the brands (like Barack Obama )that were built and communicated through this medium, make Social Media - THE bug that has managed to 'byte' into a our SoM.

WOM: Web of mouths

Life comes a full circle. This belief is a result of my own experiences and at the same time I think its fair way of life: for both, on either side of the fence

Being a student of marketing, I am time and again asked to re-iterate the definition of this evolving concept. One of them, which begins with the description of marketing as a social process, corresponds very much to the above fact of life.

Yes, it is a social process and is successful when it is communicated to its intended audience and elicits a desired response. I would relate to it this way: The messages initiate the circle, the Ps (there are more than 4 now!) draw the curve and the last arc that completes the circle is the consumer response / reaction / feedback.

Word of Mouth : the classical medium of communication and the most powerful tool that can make or break a brand's reputation. Marketing communications began with word of mouth and this phenomenon, according to me is coming full circle in the form of "Web of Mouths":i am talking about "social media"

We are seeing the surge of user generated content (UGC) at a lightening speed. From microblogging to conversing about brands on social networking sites, word of mouth is spreading its wings (web) like gasoline on fire.

What could be a better evidence than that of Barack Obama, who spread his words through the internet and used its democratic (pun intended!) nature to the fullest. Social media has the power to engage users because it gives them the liberty to use the information at hand and turn it into something personal and an expression of the self...the new generation of word-of-mouth for you! courtesy web 2.0

I heard this quote, "The Zenith of Marketing is when the marketer wins but makes the consumer feels he has won" Word of mouth has a life of its own. The marketer is increasingly becoming a mere facilitator in promoting his brand...its the consumers who really own the brand, live the brand...they pay for it...they deserve to talk about it...its a full circle...

What brands do and how they perform will reflect even through word-of-mouth...its a full circle...

With the evolution of word-of-mouth...to web of mouths ...its a full circle...

Looking for a corner anyone?

Another global crunch: Creativity Crunch

I saw a very thought provoking video from Ken Robinson on the TED show and the idea he presented talked about going back to roots that we tend to 'unlearn' because we get 'caught' up in learning what schools / colleges and university professors teach us. From the many insights he talked about, two stuck with me. What follows is my understanding and interpretation of it:

1: Academics (and I deliberately use that word over education) anywhere around the world follow the same hierarchy of subjects and similar pedagogy. This reminded me of a term 'mass hypnosis': No disregard to academics is intended of course; it is only when it begins to creep over a child's creativity, mutes his capacity of original thought and of asking questions that the whole purpose is defeated. What is meant to augment the individual intelligence turns into an instrument or a tool to propagate ideas of a few, which end up being perceived as the 'correct' way of leading our lives.

We are made to believe that only x number of ways exist to solve a problem. We are made to believe that you can only get work if you score good grades. We are told that to say no when we really want to say yes.

Saying yes will help us explore, will help us look beyond what is proved.

Saying yes will raise doubts

Saying yes will make us think because we might disagree with each other

Saying yes will open doors to uncertainty

Saying yes will raise the probability of being wrong

And yes! That is what we are most afraid of!

This brings me to his next insight:

2. We are afraid of being wrong.

He says that children are opposite to what they are likely to be as adults, in that if they don't know, they will have a go. I completely agree with his view that "If you are not prepared to go wrong, you will not come up with anything original." Schools and colleges alike make mistakes seem the worst thing one can do. Even our societies reinforce the importance of being 'good', 'successful', highlight importance of green over red...you could interpret it as money over love or tick marks over wrongs in an examination. Sometimes it blurs the lines between individualism and disrespect, between disagreement and rudeness.

This also reminds me of a proverb I read, "If we don't disagree with each other, how will we learn?"

Taking it one step ahead, after pondering over all this, are brands too in way cashing in on our fear of going wrong?

How many times have we bought a premium brand thinking that if we pay more, we will not go wrong with our expectation of its quality?

How many times have we preferred a brand because we didn't want to go wrong with our image at a college re-union party?

How important do we think it is, to think about what EACH one of us actually needs or even wants?

Do you have an answer of your own? Or maybe the marketers have branded opinions as well?

Care to go wrong?

the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY

Youth Culture

Travel is something I have always cherished: Not the travel where you just observe through the pane of the car window but one where you are out there on foot or may be a two-wheeler, getting to feel the place...

Studying in Singapore gave me this long awaited opportunity and I was able to experience not only the place but also the people. On a Three day trip to Indonesia, me and two of my pals headed to Lake Toba. A decently famous place among Europeans, we didn't see any other Indians. On the boat that took us to an island (The name is Samosir) on the lake, we met many young, friendly locals. A young lady in particular told me "I will see you at Brando Blues Bar" when I said bye.

After we fixed on a place to crash for the night, our local friend Luka (he too met us on the boat!)picked us up to go to THE place: 'Brando Blues Bar.' Off we went on bikes and when we reached, I felt like we had come to some place in Mumbai! It was a little smaller but had a pool table, a cool dance floor and of course, the bar! That is not all, apart from the features, the youngsters there were similar too: their attire, body language, behaviour ...and they were grooving to similar music...or were chilling in a corner,sipping on a drink.

A month later, when I was partying in Singapore, I felt the same energy. The club was definitely more posh and swanky and the crowd looked more 'happening' but the 'atmosphere' was the same. The rhythm and vibe weren't drastically different.

And one more month later when I was at a local club in a town called Dalat in Vietnam, I couldn't 'feel' much difference.

And a week later, grooving to sexy music in Armin Van Buuren's concert in Mumbai...(do I have to tell you how different or similar I felt?)

A month later, sitting in Consumer Behaviour class, hearing my professor talk about the mind set that cuts across today's youth brought a smile to my face. Traveling to these places in the last 6 months, I have experienced this fact first hand that youth the world over has fundamentally, the same mind set everywhere...
It likes to party on a weekend and sometimes get drunk and walk on the roads
It likes to click goofy pictures at a scenic tourist place
It likes to just hangout
It can find ways to earn that extra buck

Everywhere, the Energy was the same, there was a connection even though I was in an alien country with people I had not even spoken to. And probably, if I would have observed someone long enough, I could have even been able to guess their thoughts...or my thoughts...whose are they actually?