Indian Eye

The Good Samaritan

There is a parable told by Jesus Christ about a man beaten up by robbers, robbed and left half dead, who was tended to by a Samaritan and restored back to health. This is popularly referred to as the parable of the Good Samaritan. In today’s day and age unfortunately, its more of a parable and less of a reality. There is always someone at some stage, some juncture in life who is in need of help, be it financial, in kind or any other form of support. The Internet has helped alleviate it in some manner, but with its reach and infinite possibilities its high time somebody came up with a venture.

This Internet venture could provide a platform to connect the needy with the giver. For instance, if somebody needed blood or needed urgent financial assistance for a surgery, this could be flashed on the website and instantly notify people about it. With the help of RSS feeds and widgets, affiliate websites and other subscribers could flash it somewhere in their website and attract more donors. I see this as a great possibility, as a matter of fact I have more ideas in store.

In this day and age of digital divide, one needs a good Samaritan to bridge the gap.

Tags: Good Samaritan, Venture

Posted in Inspirational, Opinions, Philosophy | 2 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 »

Cerebrate - How it was born

Back in early February 2008, Me and my social media partner Kiruba were brainstorming about our next social media initiative. A lot of ideas and concepts were passed back and forth, but none seemed interesting, and most of them were clichés .

And then, it dawned on us, why don’t we have a forum where achievers convene and discuss on a variety of topics. Freewheeling intellectual conversations between individuals who have achieved something significant in their professional sphere, and share it with the rest of the group.

A forum where everyone speaks, everyone learns and everyone benefits. We however didn’t think it was a good idea to let it go the conventional route of a conference, and we felt that the event should be an unconference. Or briefly put, an unconference where achievers convene and discuss or ideate.

That done, the next step was to find an appropriate name for the event. One that had the right tone and meaning which conveyed the essence of the event. Two, the name of the event should have the .in domain name available.

After nearly an hour of shuffling between an array of names, we realized that the names fell short of one parameter or the other. And then in a moment of revelation, we came across the word “Cerebrate’, and we were unanimous in our consent. Fortunately enough us, the .in domain was also available, and as a bonus the name had a ring of “celebrate” to it, which made it the perfect choice. That done, it was now time to book the domain and select the appropriate audience/participants for the event. But thats a different episode in itself!

You may also want to read how the Cerebrate logo was designed. Next up : Learnings from the Cerebrate event and the Topics discussed.

Tags: 2008, Cerebrate

Posted in Blogging, Cerebrate, Internet, Opinions, Unconference | No Comments »

Blog featured in Goethe.de

I was part of a small conference held at the Goethe institute, Chennai, where the discussion was on human rights and different perspectives on the same from the attending group. I had written an article on the Mumbai fracas in an earlier post, and this is now featured in the institutes blog.

Click here for the blog post.

Tags: Blog, Featured

Posted in Blogging, Opinions, Politics | No Comments »

Digital Advertising Agencies - The Woes and Ways ahead

Advertising on the Internet is almost a decade now, but its potential and benefit to marketers have only been realized fairly recently. The measurability, the innovativeness, the cost benefit and the unprecedented reach to a global audience has made marketing on the Internet a favourite amongst a growing number of marketers.

However, because this is a new medium, the number of online marketing agencies that can handle a client’s end-to-end internet marketing requirements are virtually non-existent. There are specialists in all kinds of areas - from SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PPC (Pay Per Click), Blogging, Online Media Buying, Banner Creatives, Facebook applications, Virals etc.

The good part is that there are many good specialists in their area of expertise, the problem is that all these areas are relatively incoherent. You need someone to orchestrate your campaign, route it to all these specialist areas and bring it all together to make the campaign successful.

If you manage the online initiatives for your company, you will relate with it, especially if your company has a big budget in the online space.

There are many so called generalists who claim to provide end-to-end, seamless online marketing solutions. But dig the surface, and most of these agency claims are empty and fail to deliver on their promise.

Many of the traditional advertising agencies have forayed into the digital marketing space, and are attempting to fill the gap for their clients. Their “attempt” however leaves a lot to be desired. Most of the client servicing guys handle the Internet business with the legacy of traditional advertising, and handle this medium with the same gloves.

That said, some of the big agencies are also acquiring specialist digital agencies, in the hope of completing the spectrum. It will be interesting to watch, how these acquisitions pan out over the years.

Will good digital marketing agencies thrive on their own, or would they need to be part of a traditional agency needs to be seen. Whatever may be the case, marketers/clients need a single point interface and a partner to maximize the brand and revenue potential.

Tags: Advertising, Internet

Posted in Advertising, India, Internet, Marketing, Opinions, Sales | 4 Comments »