The Journey

Vicissitude literally means change and it's usually used with a negative connotation. It is well known that most changes go through an initial resistance phase. It is only those changes that overcome all the resistance that survive and change the phase of the world. So, we know for sure that there are a lot of changes that are going through this tough phase. That’s when Team Vicissitude thought “why not we blog about those changes and promote those potential idea?” Yes, that’s the sole purpose of this blog.

A classroom course on digital marketing and e-commerce has propelled us to create a blog and keep it going. We first understood the ten basic factors that influence a digital campaign. A clear understanding of the customer behavior, levels of web presence, means and modes of communication and search engine optimization and hash tags have enriched the experience of promoting this blog. We initially focused on the content. We later understood that content alone does not lure a viewer into becoming a regular visitor. It’s the marketing that improves views and generates a regular visitor base. That’s what we did. We used social media, mails and messages to promote our blog and observed that the views increased rapidly!

We visualize this blog as a means of spreading a word on potential ideas on digital marketing that have not yet gained recognition, that could go a long way in promoting causes, interests and business and change the way marketing is. Higher levels of interaction, more images and videos and continuously improving the content will appeal to the viewers. Search engine optimization and usage of appropriate tags will benefit the blog.

From concepts to implementation, this has been a wonderful journey! Thank you Ramana Sir.

5 Social Media Networks That Failed to Catch On 

Social media is still relatively in its infancy, and in its early years we’ve seen many battles to be the number 1 social network of choice. Currently Facebook is leading this race with Twitter chasing behind.

Lets have a look at the social media trends that have fallen by the wayside – those that never quite got going and the ones that tasted success yet still managed to collapse in the face of competitors.

1. iTunes Ping



Launched: September 2010 - Finished: September 2012

Even successful tech moguls can get social very wrong. This attempt of a social media music network from Apple’s Steve Jobs spectacularly failed and never really kicked off. Built into Apple’s iTunes platform, Ping was designed as a place where music fans could connect over their favourite artists.

Ping failed to grab user’s attention with its clunky platform, and cutting off integration access to major social channels. The boom of Twitter and Facebook hindered any chances Ping might’ve had as music artists and bands decided to use more traditional social media channels over Ping.

Ultimately, Ping’s demise can be attributed to the success of Facebook and Twitter combined with the fact that there was no real demand for such a platform, especially as MySpace (which previously offered this) had already sunk into oblivion.

2. Gowalla

 

Launched: 2009 - Finished: 2012

Gowalla was a location-based social network, where users could check into ‘spots’ in their local area. Users were able to score points by checking into venues multiple times, enabling them to win virtual prizes which could swapped or dropped on places to become a ‘Founder’.

Unfortunately for Gowalla, they launched on the same day as rival ‘Foursquare’, which turned out to be the winner of location-based networks. Despite an estimated $8 million of venture capital backing and a relaunch in a bid to differentiate itself from its major rival, it never managed to reach the same success as Foursquare.

However, it wasn’t a complete disaster as Gowalla was acquired by Facebook for undisclosed sum in December 2011.

3. Diaspora

 

Launched: November 2010 - Still active

Dubbed as a Facebook rival, Disapora was created as the answer to Facebook’s much publicised privacy issues. Built on an open source social networking software, it was designed to be simple to use, whilst allowing you to control and own your personal data. It enabled you to connect Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr accounts, however it only allowed you to post updates from Diaspora. A lack of functionality to import any external news feeds ultimately made it a quiet experience.

Launched at a similar time to Google+ and looking almost identical, it struggled to beat the competition.  Google+ had substantial marketing reach and managed to create a far greater buzz around their launch – if even it turned out to be a damp squib. Other social networks boasted more impressive features and it failed to cut the mustard.

4. Google+



Launched: June 2011 - Still active

Google described Google+ as a ‘social layer’, which incorporates Google’s multiple sites and platforms, encourages users to get interactive and share their online experiences. There was a massive hype around it’s launch with invitation-only "field tests" in June 2011 and early invites suspended due to an "insane demand" for new accounts – all this buzz seems to have amounted to little results so far, with many users calling it a ‘ghost town’.

Google+ is now the second most active social media platform. However, many have been quick to question the results’ validity, as Google now automatically creates a Google+ account for anyone using their services.  Most users seem to log on once, establish their account and then don't go back.

It appears to be popular with tech writers, SEO-ers, social media types, and generally the people that do this sort of thing for a living. Only time will tell if this budding niche network will turn into a Facebook killer in the future, Google+ may need to look at offering something truly unique from its counterparts.

It might currently be a trend that never took off, but it has a lot of power, so that must count for something. Google+ launch problems came from the simple issue that they created a platform that no one really wanted or really needed. If only Google had managed to acquire Twitter several years ago, they might not still be trying to break into socia.

5. Yahoo! Buzz



Launched: February 2008 - Finished: April 2011

Buzz was a community-based news article website, which seemed to borrow a lot of its ideas from the social news site, Digg. Yahoo’s Buzz combined social bookmarking and a voting system simply failed to light up the social media space at the time. Buzz fell to the wayside, as its buggy platform and lack of innovation meant that Facebook, Digg and Reddit gained much more traction with Internet users, Yahoo finally admitted defeat in 2011.

There are a plethora of new social networks being introduced every year, with some taking on the giants and others spectacularly flopping. There is always a gap in the market for something new, as technology and social trends evolve, but there are key principles that these potential networks should not ignore. The network should be constantly innovative, offering something different that is not currently available, and there needs to be a solid platform where users can engage on topics that they feel passionate about.

 

Optimize marketing through Digital Marketing

Four years after launching 'search', the Google launched a Pay Per Click (PPC) model on its Adwords platform where marketers paid for clicks instead of impressions. PPC has since been a cornerstone of Google's success and currently contributes significantly to its $50 billion annual revenues. Pay per click (PPC) (also called cost per click) is an internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, in which advertisers pay the publisher (typically a website owner) when the ad is clicked

We are now spending more of our lives surrounded by digital media with smartphones, tablets, and PCs that are always connected to the internet. Marketers have kept pace with their audience and are spending more than 20 per cent of their ad budget on digital marketing. While the total market for advertising is growing at 3 per cent per year, digital advertising is growing by more than 10 per cent and mobile advertising by more than 50 per cent every year.

Let us understand the concepts of paid media, owned media and earned media concepts.

Paid media is when you pay to leverage a third-party channel, such as sponsorships and advertising on third-party sites. Print, television, radio, banners, direct mail, paid search, magazines etc are used as communication channel in paid media. Paid media may be the easiest way to build an audience, it is also expensive. 

Owned media is when you leverage a channel you create and control.  This could be your company blog, YouTube channel, your website, or even your Facebook page.  Even though you don’t strictly “own’ your YouTube channel or your Facebook page, you do control them and don’t have to pay for basic usage. Brochure, retail stores, company website, Facebook fan page, mobile apps etc are used as communication channel in owned media. Owned media is the easiest to control and cost effective but is slow to scale audience.

Earned media is when customers, the press and the public share your content, speak about your brand via word of mouth, and otherwise discuss your  brand.  In other words, the mentions are “earned,” meaning they are voluntarily given by others. Word of mouth, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, forums etc are used as communication channel in earned media. Earned media is almost impossible to control but is often very credible and remarkably effective when it scales.

We should understand this holistic view of marketing, use paid media to generate awareness, create quality content to drive user engagement and social sharing to build brand and generate conversions. Digital and mobile advertising will continue to grow dramatically, every marketing students should understand the importance of digital advertising in this globalized tech-savvy world.

IBM to Invest $100 Million to Digital Marketing

In response to what it sees as  “a global demand for data driven experiences,” IBM announced yesterday that it will commit $100 million dollars to expand its Interactive Experience data and design consulting division.

IBM will add 1,000 employees and will more than triple the number of its Interactive Experience Labs, which provide clients with the opportunity to work side-by-side with researchers and consultants as well as experts in experience design, mobile and digital marketing.  Ten new locations are set to open in Bangalore, Beijing, Groningen, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, New York, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, and Tokyo. IBM currently runs four labs in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and Toronto.

IBM's move is calculated to bolster the capabilities of its MobileFirst portfolio, which aims to enhance marketers efforts in the channel by leveraging information on individual decisions, choices, preferences and attitudes. 

“At its core we're bringing a great management consulting capability together with our digital agency and our systems integration and data capabilities together in one team,” says John Armstrong, North America leader of Interactive Experience. “Having a great design aesthetic that isn't informed by good insight that is unique to the individual results in consumer engagement that is  too shallow. We need data and insight that informs the interaction.”

Researchers at the labs will continue to develop digital marketing technology that enhances customer experiences. In New York specifically, IBM Interactive Experience will share office space with Watson, IBM's natural language artificial intelligence engine.

Through the new investment, IBM Interactive Experience aims  to improve marketing capabilities in three key areas:

Intelligent customer profiles:  Employs a learning model to determine the next best question to ask individuals to gain a clearer picture of their preferences, while respecting privacy constraints.

Intelligent customer profiles:  An analytical approach that goes beyond basic social media influencer scoring to identify individuals who influence other consumers related to a specific topic.

Customer identity resolution:  A rules-based matching tool that connects data from CRM, social media and other profile information to allow businesses to build a more broad understanding of their customers.

Despite the overlap in capabilities, Armstrong asserts Interactive Experience is neither an agency nor a strategy consultancy. “Is it a pure agency? No. Does it have elements of great creative and design that an agency would have? It certainly does. Is it a pure strategy consultancy? It certainly has strategy consulting as a part of the proposition, but strategy alone wouldn't solve the problem here,” he explains. “It's a much more holistic approach to deliver on an imperative in the market to deliver a distinctive experience.” 

Coca Cola India Launches Online Home Delivery Store

Coca-Cola India has launched a new site at Coke2home.com that will home deliver all Coca Cola products to users. The initiative seems to be in pilot stage and the site notes that it currently delivers only in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai and  Hyderabad.

The site offers products such as energy drinks, juice drinks, mixers, soda, and packaged drinking water and notes that it offers delivery only for orders above Rs 300. Besides individual orders, it also offers bulk orders or monthly based orders. 

However, it appears that once a user places an order, the company provides them with an order number that they can track on its website. It claims that orders placed before 12 noon will be delivered on the same day.

On Mobile: Coca Cola has also launched a mobile version of the site accessible at m.coke2home.com. Alternatively, the site also provides a QR code that users can scan which leads to the mobile version of the site on their mobile browser.

Cracking the FMCG market is tough as usually people expect these products to be delivered the same day or as quick as possible. For companies to offer FMCG products online, they would have to tie up with brick and mortar stores to offer quick delivery or build up their own delivery mechanism. The latter one could be a costly venture.

E-bUSINESS: eVOLUTIONARY PAST, rEVOLUTIONARY fUTURE

Why e-Biz? Is it for the hype that the word is creating or for the ease and low-cost distribution service that it is increasing proving to be capable of? Well, seems like it is inevitable for companies to avoid the virtual space anymore. With more and more participants plunging into the ocean of e-Biz, Digital Marketing and e-Commerce have become indispensable dimensions of any business. Though the usually given reasons of increasing family incomes and time constraints seem to be logical, the real fact is that the companies find it more convenient to sell and market online. A purchaser would go to any extent to buy what he wants but for a seller there is always a thought preceding the act of setting up a store- is this locality good enough to help me make money? With the advent of the virtual space, all they really need to do is create a website, manage the supply chain and keep marketing for their online outlet. Now the market is open at all times to every individual on the face of this earth! Isn't that a reason good enough for a seller / manufacturer to fall for the word e-Biz?

Let’s also take a look at what exactly propelled this change. Globalization is the word. An economy being flooded with products and services from across the world is sure to reach a phase where the real estate prices shoot up to staggering numbers. The virtual space has prevented the world from going into another real estate bubble. Oh yes, it has become the savior for the millions of companies and individuals who would've otherwise. The simple, sensible move of embracing the idea of online selling and marketing has not only brought in greater benefits in terms of the revenues but has also been able to help retain them.

Globalization is synonymous with standardization. And that’s the magic that catalyzes the entire reaction to the e-biz segment. Today everyone knows what a size M, Dolby 7.1, 4 GB… means. That is what drives the business online without a glitch. Though slow the evolutionary past has definitely got a role to play in shaping the virtual space.

English entrepreneur Michael Aldrich invented online shopping in 1979. It has taken the world so long to given into the idea. Increasing networking capabilities that have shrunken the world can perhaps do anything. So, why not use them to run a business from end-to-end? Evolution of the IT infrastructure has indeed contributed to the revolution of the of the business space! The future seems very clearly revolutionary.

FMCG giants jump on online bandwagon

With growing popularity of e-commerce and shopping portals, many fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) retail companies are launching their Websites to sell products.

According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), with the advent of smartphones and ease of shopping online, the Indian online retail sector is growing rapidly. "The Indian online retail sector is expected to expand to Rs.7,000 crore by 2015 as more consumers are buying online due to rising Internet penetration and dependence on technology,".

With growing competition from online platforms, many retail and FMCG firms such as Pantaloon, Westside, Shoppers Stop, Dabur are jumping on the bandwagon to boost sales. They are getting good response from our online portal. It offers flexibility to customers. Apart from the portal, there is also an option to gift apparels and products in remote locations where there is a Pantaloon shop which the consumer finds good.

Apart from retail stores, FMCG companies are going online to sell products. Last year, Dabur set up its online shopping portal for beauty products range offering Uveda range of skincare items. The portal, www.daburuveda.com, offers any of the Dabur Uveda range of skincare products with the 'payment on delivery' option. Buyers also have the option of gifting Dabur Uveda products through online gift vouchers.

According to a survey, "Consumers have the convenience of time and place. This Website aims at providing consumers detailed information about Dabur Uveda products. We intend to give our consumers an all-new experience of shopping that's convenient and faster."

With the success of Uveda, the company is including other products on its portal. Recently, the firm announced to expand its 'NewU' retail chain through a countrywide platform. They are ready with an online platform for NewU and it is in the testing phase at the moment. The portal will offer multi-brand products such as cosmetics, fragrances, beauty products, herbal care and accessories, gifts, confectionery and toiletries.

Companies assert that apart from buying wares, consumers get the holistic idea of a company's product range, its ingredients, locate the stores and compare prices.

According to sources, even other FMCG players such as Godrej are looking for introducing portal to sell products. 

The positive part of it is that it saves the real estate price. Also, with queries and feedbacks, the company is able to connect to the consumer in a better way, and it helps in increasing the reach of the brand.

According to the eBay India census, consumers shop for electronic items, apparels, lifestyle products, etc. Category-wise lifestyle products such as cosmetics, jewellery, watches, fashion and fitness equipment contribute over 45 per cent of purchases made on eBay India.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/fmcg-giants-jump-on-online-bandwagon/1/189671.html