Indian Eye

Search for the right media mix (pun intended)

The Internet has transformed from a mere information resource, to an active ground for businesses looking for leads or sales. The inherent dynamism of the media, coupled with measurability is making it a favorite with advertisers. It is no surprise that more and more advertisers are visible online. For an advertiser, there is a bouquet of options, that include portals, search engines or even third party inventory aggregators.

But when it comes to cost or performance, search engine based advertising is the clear winner hands-down. This has historically been the case, and I can vouch from my experience managing a multitude of campaigns over the years. If an average banner ad campaign fetches you leads at Rs. X, a well managed search engine  sponsored ad can get you the same for 1/3rd the cost. And the same is for performance. The lead-sale conversion from a sponsored search ad-campaign is almost twice that of a regular campaign. And amongst search engines, Google has the edge in terms of the volumes (almost 90% of the leads) but Yahoo is at par or better than Google when it comes to conversions.

For conventional banner based advertising or variants, the only way to catch up is by introducing a dynamic, preemptive and context-intelligent ad delivery model. As for media aggregators or media-buyers, its in the interest of their consumers that they make course corrections in their campaign based on real-time monitoring, and campaign intelligence.

The demand for better performing ad-units is intense, and so is the competition amongst them. And competition is always a good thing to have.

Tags: Advertising, Internet

Posted in Advertising, Business, Google, Internet, Marketing, Search | No Comments »

Project Gutenberg - Bibliophiles, Rejoice!

If you are a bibliophile, you’ve probably read some classics along the way, and wished you’d read more. Growing up, I used to look forward to the vacations as that would mean going to the library or the neighborhood flea shop and hunt for books that looked “old“. Why old? There was a certain magic in the writings and the authors wrote because they were very good at it, not because they wanted to appear in the New York bestseller’s list.

That was then. I haven’t been scavenging for such books since I was 17, blame it on lack of time, or maybe I just grew out of it.

And then, I came across Project Gutenberg www.gutenberg.org. Here is what it’s wiki says

Project Gutenberg …is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive and distribute cultural works…Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books. The project tries to make these as free as possible, in long-lasting, open formats that can be used on almost any computer.

It means some of the best classical works of literature are now available for download for free! Yes, in an era where this is a price to everything, these valuable tomes of knowledge and fantasies are FREE!

So what did I find? Here is a sample list.

The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes
Around the World in 80 days - Jules Vernes
Dracula - Bram Stoker
Kim - Rudyard Kipling
Moonstone - Wilkie Collins
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexander Dumas

…I could just go on and on. One is spoiled for choice! Here is the URL again www.gutenberg.org, and happy reading and reminescing

PS: Johannes Gutenberg is credited with having invented printing using movable type in 1450 AD.

Tags: Books, Project Gutenberg

Posted in Books, History | No Comments »

Virals anyone?

If you are in the business of Online Marketing, a viral is probably one of the buzzwords you are surrounded with. I’ve seen a few interesting videos or animations that pose off as virals, are even funny, but it ends with that. To me, a good viral isn’t necessarily about itching to forward it to your friend. A good viral leaves an impression on the viewer long after you’ve seen it, probably even stays with you for a lifetime.

I came across a cleverly done viral made for Fevicol (which had a legacy of such ads).  

Tags: Fevicol, Online Marketing, Virals

Posted in Advertising, Inspirational, Marketing, Viral | No Comments »

The Uber Convergence Device?

Internet and the advances in technology has shrunk our world, and information and communication is just a finger tip away. Convergence has been the buzz-word over the last decade, and this is becoming more of a reality than science fiction. But is convergence really there to stay? I would say YES. We need a device that satisfies all our communication and information needs without having to rely on an array of devices (not to mention the battery of accessories that accompany it).

Over the years, multiple devices and technologies have emerged as a result of this desire, and they’ve fulfilled the role in some way or the other. Some were fancy and futuristic but failed to stoke the user’s desire, others stayed longer but couldn’t talk with other devices and remained an island on its own, running a myriad of technologies and protocols without the ability to cross communicate.

But I see a trend thats happening and thats here to stay, and most of us are already carrying the pre-decessor or atleast the seed to an uber device. No prizes for guessing, its your mobile phone! What started off as a pure communication device is now assuming various roles. Phone -> Text Messaging -> Internet Browser -> Camera -> Music Player -> ?!. It has evolved and converged faster because this is one device that is very personal to the user, and is with you almost at all times.

Now what are the other roles it can assume? Podcasting device, Broadcasting station, peer-peer node, GPS tracking device, your personal wallet (replacing the need for a seperate smart card, debit card, credit card).
I will take it step further, how about it being your personal computer! You think thats too futuristic? Not really! your mobile phone can laser project a virtual keyboard on any flat surface, with a bank of ultra-mini memory of over 100 GB, you have a hard-drive. With a wi-fi connection in the phone and GPRS, you are connected to the Internet or a LAN/WAN. A mini-projector acts as your display device that can project on to a flat surface. You get the picture.

Its only a matter of time when a device capable of all that is possible. But some of the other issues remain. An uber-convergence mobile phone device will also consume more power, and would require a better managed internal system, battery with better stamina or a self charging device (solar powered for e.g.).

Think its all in the air? Think again, any technology company worth its salt has invested in mobile technology or is converging into mobile technology. It would be interesting to see how the mobile phone evolves into the uber-convergence device.

Tags: Mobile Phone, Uber Convergence Device

Posted in Opinions, Technology | No Comments »

Topics discussed at Cerebrate, Goa 2008

Cerebrate 2008, held at Club Mahindra Varca beach resort Goa, went off better than expected and served the purpose of the event - to ideate and cerebrate.

Over the two days of the event, a variety of things were discussed spread over many subject.

These were the topics discussed.

Media - Cost dynamics in the media (Demand and Supply), PR and the media, Challenges faced by PR agencies with clients and vice versa, Effectiveness of ratings

Technology - Privacy and security issues on the web, Benefits of Open Source, Corporate Blogging, the uber personal device

Hospitality/Travel - Favorite holiday destinations, Grass is greener here - Hospitality in India, Rustic holiday experiences

Legal - The Creative Commons and how it benefits the community, Sharing Video aka Youtube and its legal implications, Making Legalese more accessible, Shooting the messenger - Can blogging or content platforms be sued for derogatory/inadmissible content.

Sports - The art of motivation, Overcoming obstacles in a country starved of sports
Cinema/Theatre - Financing an idea, Has creativity lost out to commercialism, Challenges of making a cinema in India and the way ahead, Method in the madness - the Indian movie industry and its success despite the trappings

Start-ups/Entrepreneurship - Financing your startup, VC funding - the necessary evil, Sailing the rough - Becoming an entrepreneur after a cushioned 9-5 exec job, Finding and retaining talent.

Marketing - Dumb it down (why the most creative ads may not necessarily be the best for the mass market), the changing face of the Indian consumer, Market in times of inflation.

Here are some snapshots of the participants “cerebrating”.

Abhimany Radhakrishnan (CNBC-TV18) Cerebrating. Others in the frame - Kiruba Shankar, Nikhila Kesavan and me.

Kiruba Shankar and Rashmi Bansal

Nikhila Kesavan and Abhimanyu Radhakrishnan

Cerebrating in the open - Kiruba Shankar (speaker with orange t-shirt). Others (clockwise): Shriram Adukoorie, James Joseph, Abhimanyu RadhakrishnanNikhiKesavan, Atul Chitnis, Dev Amritesh, Rashmi Bansal, Sudhir Shivaram, Arun Nair

Tags: 2008, Cerebrate, Club Mahindra, Goa

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »