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Wednesday, February 22, 2006 |
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Gaurav writes to me ... Sign up at the wiki here and Gaurav has a great explanation on what BarCamp is here. 12:28:58 PM  comment [] trackback []
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10:38:00 AM comment [] trackback []
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I'm going to |
I'm watching this space .. it's not live yet, but seems to have potential. "An internet blogging network that lets users create content and express opinion on well-known brands and products, is being supported by Honda (UK). The 2TalkAbout site will provide a trusted community-based environment for users with similar interests and tastes to share unbiased information. Honda is the first major brand to commit to the project. Visitors to 2TalkAbout can publish their views, respond to what
other people are saying on the community and gain unbiased opinion
and information about particular products and services. The Honda-sponsored site (www.2TalkAbout.com/honda)
is aimed at anyone with an interest in Honda cars - particularly
the new Civic. Although the content will be completely independent
from Honda, engineers will regularly log-on to contribute and respond
to feedback, providing users with direct access to the brand." [More here.] It is hugely successful - the channel , Zee TV attributes it to : "The immense popularity of the show can be gauged from the fact that it helped Zee TV reach the No. 2 slot in the general entertainment channel (GEC) rating. In the last four-week period (between January 10, 2006 and January 27, 2006) ëSa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005í scored a gross TRP of 3.53, which is higher than that of Sonyís ëIndian Idolí at a gross TRP of 3.31. Said Kaul, ìThe reason for sustained growth and popularity is due to the fact that ëSa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005í has its objective very clear and defined in terms of offering a platform to real, hardcore, top of the line playback voices and not creating marketing chipmunks. It is only because of this objective that ëSa Re Ga Ma Paí as a platform and ëChallenge 2005í as a series have given some of the best singers to the film and entertainment industry that it has today. ëSa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005í is and will always remain a platform for nothing but the best playback singers.î I think there's more to it than that - while there is no doubt about the better quality of participants than in Indian Idol, and the tone of the show is much more about 'serious' voices, what's interesting to me is the fact that they are getting many millions of SMS messages and call-ins every episode. Controversies that create buzz notwithstanding, viewers seem to feel they have a real stake now in who wins, and are voting en masse. There are also several online forums that are discussing the show. Forums and user groups have existed for a long while. What strikes me about this buy-in for Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, is that viewers are really empowered - they know they can make a difference in who wins, and simple technologies like SMS have made it so damn easy. Imagine then how much easier it would be for advertisers and marketers to reach this already captive audience - small eg - run a sponsored contest among 'voters' for instance.In this context, I re-visited Stuart's (am glad he's back to his insightful blogging at Unbound Spiral - there's more than one book in that blog!) paper called COMsumer Manifesto, where he talks of how "through technology the Internet is framing a new revolution, changing the underlying ecology and enabling a new form of empowered consumer to emerge". He had listed out 3 core areas as the trajectory for COMsumer Empowerment - information aggregation; customized personalized interactions and empowered COMsumers participate in personal information markets. "For years we've accepted that organizations provide products and services to customers. Some even claim unsurpassed customer satisfaction! What follows is a typical "hourglass" story; measuring the elapsed time since the hourglass was last inverted. Time is running out for the old view! The hourglass is about to be flipped over from commerce on top, and powerless customers at the bottom. What happens when we flip the hourglass over? The traditional flows of goods and services via channels to consumers is re-specified by massive flows of customer information, needs, and desires which continually create new markets and opportunities. We could consider this a simple switch from supply driven to demand driven models, but it is more. Initiatives will be directed by buyers not by sellers (see following diagram of the various types of demand and supply driven business options), and thus form a more profound revolution. A move to communities of interest and action rather than an individual personalized customer market focus." It's pretty cool and very Web 2.0 ish - despite being written in 1999 and published in 2000. What's interesting too today, is that this basic philosophy isn't just about the internet, it is pervading our mobile social lifestyle. 10:08:29 AM comment [] trackback []
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Copyright 2009 Dina Mehta
